Arrow of Truth
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Truth needed someone to act in it's place. So it used the fragment Fullmetal left behind when he hoped between worlds, and turned it into it's own private agent of chaos. Too bad Alaya snagged it first before it could be used. Until now. Shirou Emiya learns from the mistakes of his Servant self, and says no to Alaya's deal, giving him a second chance to do things right. Poor world.
1. Chapter 1

_**This idea formed from noticing how similar Archer and Ed's outfits look alike. Before anyone asks, Archer is NOT Edward reincarnated. He's a**_ **fragment** ** _that Ed left behind when he forced the Gate to open in his alternate self, brought to life by Truth to annoy Gaia._**

 ** _Also, I would like to clarify that this is basically Archer before he gets roped into being a counter guardian. He is an amalgamation of Gilgamesh's DNA, Ed's personality, and Shirou's memories rolled into one. If you get confused, PM me first before you complain on the reviews. I can explain it to you in detail._**

* * *

In the beginning, there was Gaia. And for a time, everything was in balance.

And it would have stayed that way, had it not been for one thing. The evolution of humanity.

Oh, at first Gaia paid no mind to the knuckle dragging animals. They lived, they died, they fell under the same category as monkeys. Which meant they weren't that noteworthy at all.

But then something changed.

The first spark of intelligence began to grow stronger. Suddenly they began walking on two, and putting together _ideas_ above what they were originally capable of.

If Gaia had a mind, it would have quashed them early on, before it spread.

By the time they started using tools, it was already too late.

It was then that Gaia's equal was formed.

It was called "Truth".

Some of the humans learned how to harness the powers of "Truth" and would stand apart from the others. Fear of the unknown turned to hatred, and from that hatred came death.

So Truth took the strongest and brightest of those that could access it's power and hid them away. Waiting until it could return and bring it's own champion against Gaia's beast.

Primate Murder and Counter Guardians were the planet's answer to humanity's presence. The imbalance they caused had to be corrected every so often.

Truth didn't like that Gaia usually took out those who were gifted _first_. The stronger they were, the higher the chance the beast or the Guardians would be sent.

So it waited. Patiently. Silently. Watching over it's chosen waiting for one to rise that could serve as it's right hand, as Primate Murder served Gaia.

For thousands of years, it waited.

* * *

 _In an unspecified time and place..._

This was it. This was the moment he had dreaded/ _anticipated_ his entire life.

The moment his dreams/ _ideals_ would be shattered and destroyed until there was nothing left of his humanity.

The man known as Shirou Emiya laughed bitterly when he saw Rin's figure appear. He knew what she was. What she was there for. She had come to offer him a chance to save a hundred people from dying.

All in exchange for the last vestiges of Shirou Emiya's soul.

To serve as a Counter Guardian, because there was something missing in him that made it impossible for him to prioritize his own self above others.

For his entire life since Kiritsugu saved him, there had been a void in his self-preservation instincts. He found it impossible to be selfish for his own sake.

Something inside him snapped, hearing the slight undercurrent of smugness in the Fake Rin's voice.

For the first time in his life, he decided to be selfish.

"No."

Fake Rin blinked.

" _No?"_

"I don't accept your deal. If I die, I will die as Shirou Emiya. Not as one of your _counter guardians_ ," he spat.

The world around him rippled and snapped. It was as if something had taken notice of him, and it wasn't Gaia or Alaya. No, this was something much more dangerous...but at the same time kinder. There was no good or evil to this presence, it simply was. It did not accept pity or mercy.

There was only...

Truth.

Shirou Emiya exhaled one last time...and felt the world melt away from him.

 _'So this is what death is like. It's...peaceful.'_

Strangely, he felt as though he was sitting on something solid. But all around him was white. Blinding white, actually.

 **Interesting. Very interesting! So this is where that fragment vanished to.**

Shirou turned, and was silent from shock.

Where Alaya had taken the form of Rin, this figure had taken the form of Saber. Or a washed out version of her, with no features to speak of, save the outline.

 **And you're touched with Gaia's ridiculous idea of a counter to my gift. Of course that force wouldn't sit still knowing there was an entire world of potential agents that I could use to sow chaos in it's order...**

"Who are you? What are you?"

The Saber lookalike stared at him, before a strange and somewhat odd grin formed on it's featureless face.

 **I am Truth. I am the force that humanity calls "God", the omnipotent presence that knows all and sees everything. Contrary to what you humans believe, I do not _care_ about what humanity gets up to. I simply am.**

Shirou paused, and thought that through. It...made more sense than it didn't.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Truth's strange smile widened slightly, but noticeably.

 _ **I**_ **did not summon you, Emiya Shirou.** ** _You_ summoned me. I exist in all humans, and your wish was so strong that you summoned the Gate that exists within humanity without the use of alchemy to do it. Out of all the humans on the planet, you alone have the power to do so without drawing Gaia upon you.**

Shirou could already see where this was heading.

"If you're going to offer me a deal..." he started.

Truth didn't even bother to snort. The 'look' it shot him said volumes.

 **I do not broker deals. Unlike Alaya or Gaia, I have no use for them.**

"Then what do you want?" asked Shirou.

 **To give you a second chance. A way to change fate so thoroughly that the Counter Guardian you could become is permanently erased from the Throne of Heroes.**

This was it. A chance to erase "Archer EMIYA" from that hellish existence.

"What do you want?"

 **Oh no, this is entirely _your_ choice. If you wish to replace that existence once and for all, you must open the door. I am merely the keeper of the Gate.**

Shirou saw the massive Gate. There was a sense of foreboding/ _excitement_ behind the doors.

"What happens if I don't open the door?"

 **You die.**

Well at least he knew Truth was brutally honest.

"And if I open the door?"

 **Then you will see Truth. What you gain from it in the end is entirely up to you. I am only the Gatekeeper.**

Whatever part of the dream Shirou had made him ask one last question.

"What of the people on that bus?"

 **They have already died. Whether now or in a few years, they were dead from the start.**

Shirou looked at the Gate of Truth. It felt...familiar. Like he had stood before this place before, under more harried circumstances.

In the end, he had nothing left to lose and only possibility to gain. Truth was nothing like Gaia. It held no false promise, no hidden extras that would make him suffer.

It was actually rather comforting, in a way.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," he muttered, before touching the doors.

Without warning, they flung open revealing a great Eye. Any chance he had to back away was taken from him as black tendrils wrapped around him pulling him inside.

Inside the Gate, there was only Truth. It was there that Shirou saw something he had never expected.

His own origins.

All he could remember was walking through that hellish fire, empty of everything, even his own name.

But what he saw challenged everything he had ever believed about himself.

He had not been orphaned by the flames of the tainted grail.

He had been born _into_ the flames and taken form of a child, a blank slate from which heroes were made from. He saw the sludge that poured over Gilgamesh coalesce into a body. He saw a light from _somewhere_ enter the shapeless form and a child being created.

The empty eyes blinked uncomprehending. It began to move towards life, assessing everything but seeing nothing.

Then the information hit him. It was far too much for any human mind to fully comprehend, but he retained more than any _human_ possibly could. Suddenly he was ejected from the Gate, having absorbed even a modicum of Truth.

Truth was still there, waiting patiently.

"What was _that_?" he asked, only noticing at the last second his voice sounded far different.

 **Gaia has it's checks and balances. However it has forgotten that once we were equals. The body you possess now is what you _should_ have had, if the World's Evils had not interfered and hidden you.**

"What am I?"

 **You are the Alchemist. A true one, not the mockery that Atlas pursues. Once, you sought us out to resurrect your dead mother. Then you sought us again to set right the price your arrogance cost you. Gaia may have tried to claim you, but you have always belonged to Truth first and foremost.**

Shirou was stunned. He never had parents to begin with? He was just some experiment created by this force?

Truth seemed to sense his shock, because it was pretty quick to clarify before he got the wrong idea.

 **You did have parents, once. You are a fragment of a soul that shone so brightly with our gift that it drew others to it. A golden sun that accepted Equivalent Exchange down to his very soul. Part of him was lost when he crossed between worlds.**

Shirou looked at his form. The armor hadn't changed, but the form felt more sturdy, almost speedy. If he had a mirror he would have seen hair as bright as Saber's, with eyes like liquid gold.

So he was the fragment of another soul, one that had either passed on or was lost. Strangely this truth seemed to resonate with him, like he had known it all along but didn't know what it meant.

Truth seemed to radiate approval.

 **You wished to change things. To stop Counter Guardian EMIYA from being forced to walk the path he created because of an incomplete ideal.**

"Incomplete?"

 **Your father was correct when he informed you that to save a life, one must sacrifice another in return. This is Equivalent Exchange.**

Shirou suddenly knew exactly what those words meant.

"To obtain, something of equal value must be lost."

 **That is the most basic rule of alchemy. The purest Truth in existence. Alchemy can be used for creation or destruction, but the balance must be kept. Even Gaia cannot overwrite the most basic law.**

Shirou suddenly thought of Illyasviel. His sister.

 **Homunculi are the results of humans attempting to overwrite the limits placed upon the Gate that exists within all. Man was not meant to bring life to death, which is why I exist. Those that break the Taboo must pay the price for their arrogance.**

Truth suddenly looked at him with such sharp intensity that he knew he must pay attention to what it said next.

 **Shirou Emiya, you have been given a rare opportunity to set things right. To correct a grave imbalance that these...Grail Wars...have created. We have given you the tools. Now you must fix what was broken.**

"How?"

 **The methods of dealing with this anomaly are entirely up to you. We are merely the one who sets you on the path. You are the one who must walk it and forge the ending with your own two hands. Whether you succeed or fail is dependent on your own ability.**

The blinding white began to fade, and Truth gave him one last parting shot before he blacked out.

 **Rejoice, Shirou Emiya. While there is much to be lost, there is the entire world to gain...**

Shirou remembered no more.

* * *

The first thing he felt when he woke up was cold. The second was that all the acquired aches and pains were gone...or replaced with ones he hoped were only temporary.

Opening his eyes, he had to squint at the sudden burst of sunlight.

It took him a few moments to realize where, or more specifically _when_ he was.

It was Fuyuki, shortly before the Grail War restarted. A year or so, to be exact.

More than enough time for him to summon a Servant, since from what he had learned after the fact, Illya had summoned hers almost immediately once the Grail had gathered enough energy.

Shirou made a fist with his hand. He briefly wondered why he felt surprise/ _relief_ when he realized it was flesh and blood.

Getting up, it took him a few moments to realize he was wearing something similar to his armor, but different at the same time. Going to a shop window, he found he was wearing some sort of coat with a strange symbol he recognized/ _remembered_ was the crest of Flamel, a famous alchemist. The first one to create a true philosopher's stone.

His hair was golden, almost like a combination of Gilgamesh and his Saber. His eyes were as if someone had poured liquid gold into his irises, but they held a sharpness that most humans never had.

These were eyes that had seen too much, had endured trials by fire and blood and come out stronger for it.

He had a black jacket with thin white trim over a sleeveless black shirt. His black pants were faded, but well cared for and comfortable for movements. He wore combat boots with thick soles, but were well worn in. He had a brown belt on with many pockets, presumably to hold things.

In his pocket was a curious watch, one with a strange engraving. What was even stranger was that when he opened it, he found a crudely etched note.

 _ **Don't Forget**_

 _ **3\. Oct .10**_

The significance of the date and note had escaped him, but he could feel it was important.

The one thing that bugged him the most was something he wouldn't have cared about normally.

He barely cleared five feet, and that was with the hauntingly familiar ahoge that he had seen on Saber. Rin had once taken the time to tease her about the stray hair, just to see Saber blush.

And now he had one. It was almost poetic, in a way.

"Hey you!"

Shirou ignored the voice, and decided to visit old haunts for nostalgia.

"You! Blondie!"

Shirou blinked, remembered he was currently blond, before trying to continue on. That was not meant to be, as he was suddenly halted by a hand on his shoulder.

He turned his rather irritated gaze upon the one who had stopped him.

"Hey kid, aren't you supposed to be in school?" he demanded. He looked vaguely like a cop.

"I'm not a kid," stated Shirou flatly, more than a little irritated that the man presumed he was. Just because he was _short_ did NOT make him a child.

"Yeah right kid. Playing hookie from school are we?"

Shirou felt a tic mark form. Something about the man's tone was raising his anger levels to unusual heights.

"Exactly _what_ makes you presume I am a _child_?" said Shirou icily. Something about his tone warned the cop that he was treading on thin ice.

"Don't play that with me boy. You couldn't possibly be more than thirteen at most," scoffed the man.

That set off the powder keg that Shirou didn't realize was on a hair trigger.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE HAS TO BE SEEN UNDER A MICROSCOPE?! I'M SHORT, NOT A CHILD!"shouted an irate Shirou. In the back of his mind he was completely baffled.

Sure he was lacking in the height department, but that was no reason to explode about it.

As Shirou continued to rant (drawing quite the crowd) the policeman wilted under his furious gaze.

He ran at the first opportunity, vowing never to judge someone by their appearance again.

Shirou glared at most of the people around him, ignoring his ingrained Japanese politeness.

Meanwhile in the Gate, Truth was laughing it's ass off for having slipped that particular trigger from the original's personality into the body without the man knowing about it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, just to curtail any questions which version of the FMA series I'm using, the answer is a combination of manga and the original anime, since I've seen more of those two than Brotherhood. Hope that clears it up!**

* * *

Shirou found several important facts about his new body.

Fact one: he had apparently developed a hair trigger temper whenever his height was mentioned. Namely if anyone was stupid enough to comment on how short he was. This was apparently an instinctive reaction.

Fact two: his body had an adverse reaction to milk. Namely he could not stomach the taste of cow's milk, not that he was lactose intolerant. Fortunately he had access to the internet and found some viable substitutions.

Fact three: what he lacked in height he made up with three things he would have killed for at his apparent 'age'. Muscle definition, flexibility and speed. His new body was compact, yes, but it was limber, fast and _powerful_. His right hook was positively devastating to the local thugs, and his left leg was unusually strong.

It looked like this body emphasized speed, power and movement over just power and skill. He could work with that.

However the most startling differences he found about this body was the _power_ he held at his fingertips. Almost literally in fact.

Alchemy might operate on a basic principle, but he found it much easier to grasp than any of his training in magecraft. It was almost hardwired into his brain.

All those hours spent with Rin during her failed attempts to teach him runes and formalcraft were being put to use in unexpected ways. On their own, he was abysmal at them at best.

Combined...well, he doubted even Rin would disparage his efforts. His automatic skill at structural analysis had been put into overdrive to the point he was almost certain he had gained the world's oddest form of Mystic Eyes. It would explain quite a deal. His skills at projection, reinforcement and gradient air had been boosted beyond what even his prodigal levels had been upon his death. In fact he wouldn't be surprised if they had gained a near legendary status on their own.

He processed the world with analytical detail, almost down to the last spec. He could comprehend even the most detail oriented scientific theory, something he couldn't do before.

Hell, after the incident with the cop (word had apparently spread about the odd foreign kid with blond hair and gold eyes) he spent most of his time in the library.

He literally spent entire _days_ in the public library pouring over every book he could get his hands on. The more scientific and detailed the better. And that was _before_ he mugged some local thugs to get a laptop, something he would never have bothered with before.

Sometimes he wondered how the Magi would react to the fact that a good chunk of their precious research was available if you knew where to look and how to ask.

Waver El-Melloi II was rather helpful once he realized that he was talking to someone who knew what they were asking about, and not some magic enthusiast.

* * *

Six months after suddenly waking up in the past, Shirou was doing what he _should_ have done the first time he summoned Saber.

He had gotten the circle from Waver, who seemed more than enthusiastic to help him. From what he recalled, the man had once summoned Iskander as Rider in the last war, and it had changed him for the better. Clearly he was hoping to do the same for another lost youth, except this time with permission.

Shirou had no catalyst. He didn't want a specific servant.

Instead he used his own blood as the catalyst.

He waited for the perfect moment to summon, and recited the incantation he wished he had known the first time.

The circle flared red, and he could feel Truth take an interest in what was going on. His right hand felt like it was on fire as he connected to the true Grail, not the corrupt one. Then like a rubber band his magic snapped back into place.

From amid the smoke, an androgynous figure emerged.

"I have come in response to your summons. I ask of you, are you my Master?"

"I am," said Shirou, trying not to cough from the smoke.

"Then I, Servant Lancer, will help you obtain the Grail."

Shirou had obsessively looked up Gilgamesh after the war. So that his Archer self could better kick the man's ass like he so richly deserved.

As a consequence, he had also learned of the one person Gilgamesh considered his equal.

Enkidu.

"Your name is Enkidu, isn't it?" he half asked, half guessed.

Lancer blinked, surprised he recognized him so fast.

"I am," he confirmed, a little confused.

To his confusion, his new Master started laughing to himself.

"Instead of summoning _him_ , I get the best friend of the biggest asshole in the damn war!"

Enkidu was confused. But it wasn't just his Master's amusement about who he summoned.

No, it was because this boy who had summoned him without a catalyst looked a lot like Gilgamesh, only more cynical and realistic. In a way he was almost the polar opposite of Gilgamesh...yet if Enkidu didn't know any better, he'd swear that this boy was related to his friend.

Which was impossible. Gilgamesh had no children, and he certainly didn't have any siblings.

So Enkidu observed.

Shirou Elric had a very set schedule.

Every morning he ran a several blocks before picking up breakfast. Once the library was opened, he went straight there, as the police had little interest in an underage boy who spent his days reading in a public place rather than attend school. Close to lunch he would get something to eat, before exercising a bit more. He would return to the library with a laptop to do online research for a few more hours before heading off around the less guarded areas of the city.

He had gained a bit of a reputation, though it was strange to see some thugs nod in his direction, a discreet acknowledgment that he had earned his place on the streets.

Enkidu later found out that Shirou had an...agreement...with one of the local families. He left the Fujimura group alone (mostly due to some fond memories of the granddaughter, who was a recently hired teacher at the local school) and they discreetly sent him into the path of people known to cause problems.

Rapists, hardened killers, those that delved a little too deep into the darker aspects of humanity. Shirou had no patience for them, and neither did Raiga Fujimura. A few days after he came to Fuyuki, there was a sudden decline in such activities. Most had taken the hint within the first month that a new power had arrived and certain standards were going to be...enforced.

After he was done roughing up the idiots who didn't get the message, or thought to try their luck, he generally left them tied up naked as the day they were born after robbing them blind. Some were left go, but most were arrested.

By all outward appearances, Shirou Elric was nothing like Gilgamesh. But there were many little details that Enkidu kept seeing that reminded him strongly of the man.

It wasn't just his appearance. There was an air of arrogance, confidence and a sort of "this world is mine, bitch" attitude that he had. Not that he was aware of it.

Though he had to admit, the way Shirou snapped at people for commenting on his height was _definitely_ not something Gilgamesh had done.

"You do realize that eventually you'll hit a growth spurt and possibly get taller?" asked Enkidu carefully.

Shirou blinked, realized what he was referring too, and to Enkidu's amazement blushed in embarrassment.

"I actually _don't_ care about my height. But for some reason just commenting on it seems to set me off. I know that I'll hit a growth spurt sooner rather than later, and that I'll likely shoot up like a weed. But for some reason just being reminded that it hasn't happened irritates me to the point I go off on others. I've actually stopped noticing it at this point," he admitted.

It was blatantly obvious to him that he was a "late bloomer" in the height department.

"So why do you go off on others?"

"Humans need flaws that others can relate to, otherwise the bulk of humanity will turn on them eventually," said Shirou bitterly.

That had been the downfall of Archer EMIYA. He hadn't understood that people need a flaw to latch on to, otherwise humanity would reject and turn on him. Very few heroes had a _happy_ ending, after all.

So he wasn't that overly worried about his strange outbursts. In a way, worrying about something so inconsequential and venting out frustrations early was actually a good thing. It let him get any anger or negative feelings out in a healthy way, rather than bottling them up.

Seeing the expressions on people's faces when he exploded was actually kind of funny, to be honest.

Enkidu didn't get it, but he accepted the explanation. Shirou clearly didn't care, but for some reason he had the trigger so he made use of it.

Shirou finished off his night with what looked like basic stances that seamlessly shifted into hand to hand combat moves. The thing was, Shirou couldn't remember _where_ he picked them up.

For the first few days, he allowed Enkidu to simply watch him. But little by little, the two of them became sparring partners.

The weird thing was that as he was teaching Enkidu how to fight, he started getting memories. Memories he _knew_ couldn't be his, or even Enkidu's.

Memories of someone named "Edward Elric" and his brother Alphonse...who later became a suit of armor. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear it was a case of permanent transferal of conscience. With a runic anchoring mark.

Shirou had no idea who Edward Elric was. He merely borrowed his last name because it would be too confusion for three "Shirou Emiya" to be around during the war.

However he also remembered what Truth had told him. That it had used a fragment of a very special alchemist that had not only figured out the trick behind using alchemy without circles, but personified Equivalent Exchange.

So much so that the Homunculi (which were nothing like the ones he knew of) had targeted him specifically to open the Gate.

He was the ONLY human alive who had seen the Gate multiple times, much less survive the trip between the world Gaia controlled to the one that Truth had created to protect the alchemists from Gaia's counterbalance.

From what he saw of real alchemy, it was little wonder that the counter guardians had been called when one became too skilled.

Gaia didn't like things that went against natural order, even if they paid for it in a way that didn't upset the balance. The thing was that if alchemy had remained, then humans would have advanced as a species much quicker than Alaya would have liked.

* * *

Gilgamesh was in a foul mood. Someone in the city had summoned Lancer, but hadn't bothered to show up in order to report it like they were supposed to. And that annoyed Kirei, who had hoped to steal a Servant without anyone knowing he was a Master. It wasn't enough that he had Gilgamesh lying around. No, he had to be an _active_ Master for his plans.

Naturally he knew better than to take it out on Gilgamesh (he would have killed him for the affront, no questions asked) but he was still very smarmy about the whole thing and told Gilgamesh he wasn't allowed to explore.

So he waited until Kirei went out on a trip and went out anyway.

It was how he accidentally stumbled upon the master of Lancer by accident. And something about the kid felt familiar in a weird way. He wasn't anything special.

He was short (the boy suddenly twitched, as if sensing his mental train of thought about his height), wore bright red clothing with black pants and combat boots, had sunshine gold hair about the same shade as Gilgamesh himself, and a foul temper.

However it was when he turned that Gilgamesh got a good look at his eyes.

Gold. Gold as bright and strong as his armor, with an intelligence few could match. He had no doubt the boy was stubborn, and there was a subtle aura about him that practically screamed arrogance and authority. It was an odd combination he had come to associate only with the mongrels that dared to call themselves "kings" even in his glorious presence.

However this boy didn't seem the type to lead. Let alone wear a crown. No, this was a warrior with the mind of a scholar, one who would jump into even the most dangerous mystery to further his own understanding.

It fascinated him...more than that adorable little Saber had fascinated him.

So he followed, and caught bare tendrils of conversation between the boy and what could only be his servant. He even knew how to disguise the fact he was talking to someone incorporeal perfectly...humanity had developed those silly little ear pieces that made it easier to communicate and freed up the hands.

Gilgamesh could tell at a look it wasn't even turned on, and was only for show. But the other humans assumed it was on and he was talking to someone on the other end.

It was something a traditional Magus wouldn't think of. They'd just find a quiet spot that would leave them open prey for the other Masters at the same time.

It was brilliant in it's simplicity.

He was so interested in the blond that he decided to stalk...er, _follow_ him for the rest of the day.

And the more he watched him, the more interesting the teen became.

He practically lived on the streets, and spent most of his day constructively in the library learning directly from books rather than try to socialize with those beneath him. From noon to evening, he learned magecraft over the laptop with a well respected instructor from Clock Tower that Gilgamesh remembered from the last war. At night he honed his skills like any real warrior would...through actual combat that was only limited by the other party.

It was pretty clear that the boy knew how to fight, and how to fight well from practical experience.

All the fighters these days learned from _dojos_ or private instruction. It was pathetic. Humanity remembered how to fight, but dulls their fangs on purpose because _fighting_ was considered uncivilized. Instead they prided themselves on intelligence.

This boy held his head up with real pride, earned through experience and he most definitely didn't apologize for his behavior. Exactly how a king _should_ behave.

Gilgamesh knew who he was going to keep an eye on. This boy was definitely worth keeping alive, if only for something interesting to watch.


	3. Chapter 3

"Thank Truth for tablets," said Shirou. His workshop was entirely on the electronic device and backed up online, where no traditional Magi would be able to find it.

He had initially only had a workshop to get Unlimited Blade Works up and running. Now he was doing it for almost the same reasons a Magus would.

He wanted to expand his horizons. He wanted to do more than just spam copy swords at people, or launch Broken Phantasms.

He had awakened a scientific curiosity he didn't know he had, and gained the one thing that he gladly cast aside to accomplish his goals.

Pride.

It was as if Truth had given him a piece that had been missing, filling the void that had existed his entire life.

Shirou could honestly claim he liked Truth a _lot_ more than Gaia.

"It does seem convenient," agreed Enkidu. He was like a silent watcher waiting for the other Servants to arrive, so that they could kick start the war.

"Plus it makes it so much easier for me to notice my stalker," snickered Shirou.

Enkidu couldn't help the amused laugh that came out. Gilgamesh was never subtle, but at least he didn't draw too much attention.

Shirou was even generously covering for him by claiming his fellow blond was his 'older brother' checking up on him on orders from their parents. Ironically it served the purpose of easing the minds of the adults consistently around him, who took the fact he hadn't dragged their now favorite bookworm out of the city that the parents approved.

The fact that they did look and act a lot like each other didn't help. Not that Shirou realized this fact.

Still, he kept himself occupied in a way the adults couldn't argue against, didn't really cause waves, and more importantly he had been able to identify whenever a Master appeared.

He had debated on whether to allow Caster's Master to live or not, but felt that allowing Medea to live in the war simply wasn't worth the effort. The damage she had caused was just too high, even if he did feel some sympathy learning the full story.

Shirou Emiya might have spared her life, or become her Master out of pity, but Shirou Elric was pragmatic to the core.

It was better to take her out before she had a chance to establish herself, and he had at least given her the dignity of having a proper Servant battle before he killed her.

She hadn't liked the fact she lost because she killed her Master, but at least there wasn't some lingering resentment over the issue. She had fought Lancer, and he had given her a fair shot of survival, even letting her get some of her magecraft off before Enkidu killed her.

There was nothing personal about it. Even if one Servant had now been taken out before the others had been officially summoned.

Besides, he was still a bit pissed at the way she had taken Saber from him the first time with that damn Rule Breaker of hers.

Of course that meant Assassin would now be up for grabs, as he knew Medea has used her superior skills to fool the Grail, but that was a small change and he could handle Assassin himself. Enkidu just had to lure the Servant out where Shirou would be waiting.

He might have lost his height, but all the hard-earned skills he had gained before he almost made that deal with Alaya had remained. And with Unlimited Blade Works, he could be mistaken for Saber or his old Archer class.

* * *

It was amazing how quickly things settled into a new routine. A single meeting had brought him into contact with Shirou Emiya in a rather unusual way.

Most of the thugs that were considered the "lowest of the low" by the professional criminals had moved to easier cities. And while the crime rate had taken a hit, the more disgusting crimes had come to an all time low. A fact Raiga intended to continue, as he disliked their sort to begin with.

The fact it earned him brownie points with the local cops didn't hurt either. About the only stipulation for the Yakuza families he had set was that they leave the true innocents out of it.

That included anything from children younger than twelve to people who had married in from normal families and only found out after the fact that they were now part of a yakuza clan. So long as they had _zero_ part in the criminal day to day operations, they were generally ignored.

If they defended their families, that was different. But other than that they were left alone.

Shirou found it rather ironic that the small suggestions he had made to the families had resulted in a workable relationship with them.

For one thing, the number of homeless had taken a hit, as they had started employing said people as informants, or taking them into the families if they were still considering minors. They couldn't force them into the life until they were at least sixteen, but it did wonders for their public image.

They accepted he was there for the next year at the least, and he didn't interfere if he saw one of the families doing something many considered illegal.

It also seemed Truth had it out for him, or Gaia. Because during the meeting he had been properly introduced to Taiga, and his recommendations had won her over.

Which meant he was now living in his old house after she found out he mostly slept in abandoned warehouses rather than deal with nosy neighbors.

Shirou (Emiya) had accepted the new boarder with ease, which gave Shirou (Elric) plenty of opportunity to wear down, or at least give him a more reasonable goal until he attracted Truth's attention a second time.

He had to admit though, introducing his past self to Waver and showing how a little common sense would allow him to keep his actual research out of the hands of the more traditional families, who would hate the Emiya name for the way Kiritsugu had dealt with them (especially the von Einzberns) was a lot of fun.

It would make watching the show between Rin and Emiya that more amusing. Especially since he _knew_ how to awaken Unlimited Blade Works, and with how stuck in the past most Magi were, no one would be able to realize that Shirou Emiya was researching how to properly deploy a reality marble.

Especially if he used some damn common sense to hide the folders.

Emiya had accepted his presence in the house because he knew how to do chores, gave a few minor pointers on how to make his storage shed a proper workshop, and helped with the cooking since there were now _five_ people eating at the table.

No one questioned Enkidu's presence, or his hair color. As far as they knew, Enkidu was a bodyguard from his family in Germany. One from an area were internet access was a luxury. The fact he could name a place where that held true meant no one really questioned his story. He covered for the odd hair color by claiming his bodyguard liked the color green and so decided to dye his hair that color.

Taiga had tried to convince Shirou Elric into attending school, but when he started quoting books and theories way above high school level she dropped it. And any social interaction could be gained by living with Shirou and Sakura. And he could fake any official ID by borrowing someone else's and then using alchemy to make his own.

So it wasn't like he was strapped for cash.

He was just waiting.

* * *

Shirou (Elric) was grinning wickedly. Sakura was hiding her smiling face as Shirou (Emiya) tried to act as peacemaker. Enkidu was firmly with Sakura's side on this. Shirou (Elric) had provoked the woman deliberately.

Taiga was fuming because Shirou (Elric) had stolen the last piece of fried tofu made specially by Sakura. It was her best dish, and she had gotten hardly any!

But that wasn't what set Taiga off. No, that was entirely due to the fact Shirou (Elric) had smugly commented on having "tiger-like" reflexes.

She had clearly taken the reference to the infamous nickname she had, because you could see the shadow of a tiger behind her.

"That does it shorty! You're in for it now!" she roared.

"I'm _not_ short you lazy tiger! I just hit a proper growth spurt yet! We're called late bloomers for a reason!" Shirou (Elric) roared with equal enthusiasm.

"Care to prove that blondie?!"

"Calm down!" said Shirou (Emiya) frazzled.

"Bring it on, old woman! I could kick your ass any time, anywhere!" challenged Shirou (Elric).

Taiga took the implied challenge, and before Shirou (Emiya) knew what was happening Shirou (Elric) was in the dojo with a pair of swords while Taiga had her Tora Shinai in hand.

"Why doesn't anyone listen to me?" said Shirou (Emiya) with a slight whine. It wasn't that big a deal.

"They're just having fun," said Enkidu, pitying him.

"It seems rather harmless enough," said Sakura in agreement.

"But did he have to rile her up like that?" complained Shirou (Emiya).

"Last chance to back out, short stuff," said Taiga.

"Prepare to meet your maker, tiger," said Shirou (Elric) evilly.

"Begin!" said Sakura, seeing as how Shirou (Emiya) wasn't too happy with either of them.

It was abundantly clear that Shirou (Elric) was far more skilled than Taiga. He not only stole her sword, he bopped her on the head twice. But that proved to be a ruse. She pulled out a second one, and the one he took turned into a bouquet of flowers.

"For me, you shouldn't have!" she cackled.

This time Shirou (Elric) didn't play around. He let Taiga get a few hits in, but it was pretty obvious that he was playing with her. He left holes in his defense, but when Taiga went to attack them, they became perfect traps.

Shirou (Emiya) was fascinated by such a style. He had no idea Shirou (Elric) had counted on it.

He was _bored_ , and after several months of frenzied studying and upgrading his limited knowledge of magecraft to a higher standard, he wanted a decent opponent. None of the _real_ movers or shakers of the War would be showing up for two more months.

More than enough time to beat some sense into his past self, if only because he had nothing better to do.

Which was why after Taiga and Sakura had left for the night, Shirou (Elric) was not surprised in the least when his past self approached him.

"You want to learn real swordsmanship, not the sport version Taiga uses."

Shirou (Emiya) blinked at him. Was it that obvious. Shirou (Elric) grinned.

"I know I would have jumped at the chance when I was younger to be apprenticed to a semi-competent teacher. I can even show you what you're doing wrong with your circuits if you like," said Shirou (Elric).

"What's the catch?"

"You have to actually listen when I tell you _why_ becoming a hero isn't as easy as saving everyone. There are some people in this world that don't deserve to be saved, there are some that can't be saved, and some you won't be able to save because of your skill level. I'm going to beat it into you so that you'll be able to tell the difference on you're own," said Shirou (Elric).

Shirou (Emiya) fumbled a bit to catch the sword Shirou (Elric) tossed him.

"Shall we begin?"

* * *

 _Time skip two months..._

Today was the day. Not that Shirou (Emiya) knew that. The day he stayed behind too late to clean the Archery club and then summoned Saber. If things worked out like it did before, one of the Servants would show and fight Archer, only to follow Shirou (Emiya) home. It would force him to summon Saber, and thus kick start the entire war properly.

So Shirou (Elric) waited patiently.

"You seem on pins and needles today," commented Enkidu.

"Saber is going to be summoned today. I guess I'm just glad that the waiting is over," admitted Shirou (Elric).

Enkidu blinked.

His Master had not been idle waiting for the war to officially begin. Far from it.

He had spent countless hours speaking with Waver, training his body and magic, and learning the finer aspects of the gift this "Truth" had awakened in him.

Enkidu had to admit, this alchemy was a devastating weapon. A single clap of his hands, and Shirou could utterly destroy his opponents with a touch.

But at the same time he could create wondrous things that not even Gaia could remove.

Shirou (Elric) was so eager that he decided to play around with his alchemy.

Whether it was fate or nostalgia...but when he went to make a spear, he made a credible recreation of Gae Bolg...only without the curse.

It was looking at the red spear that he realized a problem.

"What is it?"

"The reason Emiya summoned Saber was because of a fight or flight response when he realized Lancer was about to kill him for witnessing the first Grail War fight. It was a fight against Archer."

"But he won't have to worry about Lancer, because you summoned _me_ ," said Enkidu, seeing the problem immediately.

Shirou (Elric) grinned viciously as an idea formed.

He could cause problems for his counter-guardian self _and_ convince Emiya that he had to use the incantation Shirou (Elric) gave him two days ago.

"Let's go cause some chaos in the name of Truth!" said Shirou (Elric). This was sure to confuse Archer to no end, if things went the way they did before.


	4. Chapter 4

Archer was waiting for the moment. He always did, once he realized the loop he was in.

So when Rin stayed behind to fight the Servant, he knew exactly what would happen. This was one moment he could never change.

Except it _did_ change.

Cuchulain wasn't the Lancer standing before Rin. It was a mysterious blond in black, wearing leather gloves and wielding the scythe with expert ease.

"Looks like I hooked a wild one! Lucky!"

Something about this kid reminded him far too much of Gilgamesh, his natural rival. Yet he didn't have the condescending attitude.

He didn't know this Servant. He could tell the structural composition of the spear, but that was it. There was no way for him to tell who this boy was or what his legend was. The spear had _literally_ been made an hour earlier.

Either his Master was a cautious one, or this _was_ the Master playing Servant.

He'd find out soon enough.

Rin jumped off the roof, relying on Archer to deal with the landing.

Archer couldn't look, but he could tell "Lancer" was doing the same. If he landed without help, he was a Servant. If he had someone assisting him, then he was possibly a Master. With those gloves it was impossible to tell if he had command seals.

So what his opponent did next startled both Rin and Archer.

He heard the sound of someone clapping their hands once, before a series of massive hands slowed his fall as he nimbly jumped down from hand to hand. A second clap made the hands revert to the way they were before.

Archer had never seen such magic before. Neither had Rin. It was beyond what he considered possible, manipulating matter with a clap of hands.

If he could create hands out of the side of the school, then making a spear wasn't that too far fetched.

It made determining if this was a Master or a Servant that much harder.

"Shall we begin, whitey?" grinned the mysterious blonde.

"Tell me... are you a Master or a Servant?" asked Archer bluntly.

Something about the smile on the boy's face made the mental comparison between him and Gilgamesh at his most annoying only stronger.

"Are you sure you have any right to talk... _counter-guardian?_ "

Archer froze. No one should know about that, not this early. And even then it was only after Rin realized what his real name was. He could sense the shock in Rin, even without turning.

"I have to admit, it's hilarious that a counter-guardian managed to make it to the Throne of Heroes. You must have been one unlucky bastard to get those two crossed."

"Who are you?" demanded Rin. She could tell from the way Archer was acting, that there was some merit to the accusation, and it explained why he couldn't remember his name.

What he said next chilled Archer to his bones. Only two people knew what Kotomine said right before Illyasviel first appeared, and it had yet to happen, so Rin wouldn't know it.

" _Rejoice, my son! Your dreams will finally come true."_

Archer shivered, whether in fear or anticipation, it was impossible to tell.

"Shall we?"

* * *

"What is he up to?" muttered Shirou (Emiya) under his breath. His counterpart Elric was fighting a white haired man with a strange grin on his face. What was more was that he could tell from the many sparring sessions before bed that Elric was only playing with the man in red.

There was a very disturbed expression on the swordsman's face, as if Elric were an enigma that he couldn't solve no matter what he did.

The two figures were evenly matched, almost. Elric's height was the only real difference between them.

But what he made up for in height and striking distance, he made up for speed, power and the flexibility of a gymnast. And it showed.

A sudden snap of a twig decided the matter. The swordsman and Elric suddenly turned, as if just now noticing him. The swordsman suddenly bolted in his direction, ignoring the cry of the girl nearby.

Shirou ran for his life, knowing instinctively that if he didn't, he was going to die.

Unseen by him, Elric had a strange smirk on his face.

"And that takes care of that," said Shirou (Elric).

"Was it wise? Antagonizing Archer like that?"

"Oh trust me, what happens next is going to be worth it. Besides, if I didn't set that idiot up, he would never have had the push to summon Saber and start the war."

Not to mention this would give him the perfect chance to follow Emiya and give Illyasviel a good shock.

* * *

Shirou Elric took his sweet time getting back to the house. Odds were that Emiya would need something strong to get over all the shocks that were about to happen.

And that wasn't taking into account the fact he could totally prank Saber.

Enkidu had commented how strange it was that he looked so similar to Gilgamesh. So why not freak her out with a major misunderstanding and drive Emiya up the wall again.

Shirou (Elric) would openly admit he _loved_ messing with his past self's mind because Shirou Emiya was such a naive moron.

"What are you doing?"

"Just watch," said Shirou.

He removed his familiar hair tie (it was seriously a pain having to keep buying/making these things) and used a few pins to hold his hair up discreetly. Once it was the right length, he took off the coat and then used a little projection magic to create a pair of red contacts to change his eye color.

He had seen Gilgamesh wearing something similar to his current outfit, so it was sure to mess with Saber's head.

Shirou Emiya might realize it was his rather strict teacher, but Saber and the others wouldn't.

Time to have some fun.

* * *

Rin had cleared up the "misunderstanding", never mind it had been HER Servant that damn near killed Emiya.

So once she went to take Emiya to the church to register, she was completely caught off guard when someone approached them, heading to the house.

Especially when Saber started growling.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she snarled. Saber looked seriously pissed about something.

"Now is that any way to talk to your King?" smirked the man arrogantly.

For some reason, this man _did_ look familiar. Rin would swear she had seen him before, and not just because he looked like that arrogant bastard who attacked her earlier. Suddenly it clicked.

"YOU! You were my father's Servant in the last war! What are you doing here?!"

"Gilgamesh," snarled Saber.

The man identified as "Gilgamesh" was definitely trying not to laugh.

Shirou, rather than speak, looked a bit closer at the guy. Then he recognized the clothes and the stance.

"Really? Why'd you put in red contacts and cut your hair anyway?"

"Gilgamesh" looked a bit annoyed.

"Emiya?" said Rin. She would swear this was Gilgamesh. Hell, even Saber identified him as such!

Before Shirou could say anything, several ripples appeared behind the figure. Any doubts that this _wasn't_ the King of Heroes vanished from Saber's mind. However Shirou was almost positive that this was really Elric playing a prank.

For one thing, this "Gilgamesh" was a bit short for someone called the King of Heroes. Suddenly an idea occurred to him to prove that theory.

If there was one thing to prove this was Elric and not some famous Servant, then he just had to set 'that' off.

Shirou Emiya's face turned rather...odd. This was going to be revenge for all the headaches Elric gave him when he riled Taiga up and then left _him_ to deal with the fallout.

"Aren't you a bit short to be a Servant? I mean Saber isn't that tall, but she's still bigger than you."

"Gilgamesh" twitched.

"And what's with that stray hair? Is that some sort of antenna to make up for the fact you're lacking in height?"

That twitch only got worse, and now Shirou was positive this was Elric.

"Well, aren't you going to defend yourself, _runt_?"

That did it.

Any pretense of this being Gilgamesh was blown out of the water when his temper went off.

" _Who are you calling so short that he can fit in a clown car?! Prepare to die!"_ ranted Elric, his cover fully blown.

Emiya had a sweet smile on his face, and he had to fight not to laugh at the baffled looks on Saber and Rin's faces. If he could see Archer, he would have seen the disbelieving look on his face as well.

Suddenly Rin laughed, and it wasn't very pleasant. Now that she knew this wasn't Gilgamesh, she was back in her own element.

"So he's a runt is he? Shouldn't little boys stay with their mothers?" she said a little too sweetly.

"Shouldn't a massive tsundere like you find a masochist that can put up with your Tsun-tsun side?" Elric shot back.

"Why you...!"

Shirou could see where this was going.

"Aren't we supposed to meet the supervisor of this war?" he said pointedly.

Rin took a calming breath, but it was clear she wasn't going to let the prank Elric had played on her go, not by a long shot.

"And you. Why did you put contacts in and cut you hair anyway?"

"Actually it's just a little projection and some hair pins. Not my fault people keep mistaking me for the Golden Troll for some reason," admitted Elric. Just to prove his point he took out the contacts and pins.

Saber blinked.

"Shirou, how do you know him?"

"He's been living with me for a few months now."

"I'm Lancer's Master," deadpanned Elric. "I've been waiting for _months_ for this stupid war to kick off to prove a point to my family in Germany."

"Wait, _you're_ the one who killed Caster off prematurely?!" said Rin incredulous.

"What?" said Saber, startling.

"The observer for this war was bitching about that when I went to register I had summoned Archer. Lancer killed Caster before the war was officially started, though from all indications Caster has just killed her master a few hours previous."

"Isn't that against the rules?" asked Saber.

"Officially no. Normally Servants stay astralized or the Masters avoid the area until most of them have been summoned. But there's nothing that _officially_ states it's against the rules to kill them off before all seven have been summoned and the masters recognized. But it does pose a problem, because there's no telling what eliminating a Servant before the full set have been summoned could do to the Grail."

"I gave her a dignified death and a few shots at Lancer. Even she acknowledged that it was a fair fight," said Elric flatly.

Medea had acknowledged that maybe her luck was just that shitty for her to die before finding a second Master.

"But it isn't done!" said Rin heatedly.

"You're really saying that?" deadpanned Elric. "Magi are all about underhanded tactics and questionable methods. Hell, Kiritsugu Emiya once emptied out an entire hotel before blowing it up just to kill the master of Lancer in the last war. And don't get me started on the damage _Caster_ made last time."

Saber's face tightened. She had almost no fond memories of Kiritsugu. And the less said about that Caster servant, the better.

"...He has a point you know," said Shirou.

"You shut up. You couldn't even summon _Saber_ properly!" said Rin angrily.

Elric snickered. He was going to have so much fun spreading confusion before he sent the Grail to Truth's gate.

"Where is your Servant anyway?" demanded Rin furious.

"He's around. Like I'd show him this early, when he's more useful in the shadows," said Elric flatly.

"You are a disgrace of a magus," said Rin.

"I'm not a magus. I'm an _alchemist_ ," said Elric smugly.

"That's even worse! Atlas shouldn't have sent on of it's agents to fight in a war between Magi!" said Rin.

"I'm not part of that pathetic Atlas. I'm here on my own terms," said Elric.

"I feel sorry for your brother. You must drive your entire family up the wall," said Shirou.

Elric's only answer was to smile in a smug manner that only made the fact they had mistaken him for Gilgamesh that much easier to take for Saber.

The entire walk to the Church, Rin was clearly trying very, very hard not to strangle Elric with her bare hands.

Whether it was from his arrogant tone, the condescending way he talked to her (she wouldn't realize until later he sounded far too much like Archer), or his attitude in general...it was difficult to tell.

One thing was for sure though. Shirou quickly realized that Elric's description of Rin's personality as a "tsundere" was spot on.

Which meant she was a prime target for Elric's wicked personality. He took far too much enjoyment in being a pain in the ass.

He had a naturally antagonistic personality, and he had no regard for authority figures. But...there was another side of him. If he genuinely respected you, or took you seriously, then he would at least listen to what you had to say before blowing you off.

He respected a grand total of four people in the city. Old Man Fujimura, Taiga when she was being serious, his bodyguard, and for some weird reason, Sakura Matou.

Sakura was rather fond of Elric, and she was one of the only people Shirou knew that he didn't antagonize or try to get a rise out of. In fact he was very respectful to her and actually _nice_.

"So are you going into the Church to register or not?" asked Saber.

"Hell no. Like I'd trust that fake priest with anything. That guy summoned Assassin in the last war, and then faked his Servant's death to work from the shadows," said Elric flatly.


	5. Chapter 5

Shirou Elric was a thorn in her side she couldn't _wait_ to challenge once her Master gave her permission.

He was arrogant, but no condescending. He was full of pride, but at the same time there was a distinct lack of it. He had the charisma of a king, yet at the same time Saber could tell he kept people at a distance deliberately.

It hadn't taken more than half the walk to the Church to realize Elric was _deliberately_ poking fun at Rin as a subtle way of keeping her distance from him.

That couldn't be more obvious when they were suddenly confronted with the master of Berserker.

Saber had been fully prepared to fight Berserker...except Elric had beaten her to the punch.

"Lancer, restrain him!"

Saber wasn't the only one looking for Lancer. However while it was evident that he was present, he didn't make his appearance known.

His chains, however, did.

Everyone save Elric gaped as long chains appeared and even speared themselves into Berserker's skin.

Illyasviel was rather smug. After all, what sort of chains could restrain the greatest hero in Greek mythology? However that quickly changed when she realized Berserker was not only stuck, he couldn't breakthe chains! And he was definitely attempting to get out.

Illya turned wide, angry eyes to the smug blond.

"What did you do?!"

"These chains were specifically made to restrain beasts with divine attributes. And as this _is_ Heracles, that means they're absorbing his divine heritage to make the chains stronger," said Elric smoothly.

Illya fumed rather cutely as she realized her Servant had been effectively nullified.

"It doesn't matter anyway! You still can't kill him!"

"I wasn't _trying_ to kill him. I just needed a way to restrain him while we go back. I'm starving," said Elric to Emiya.

"I'll get started on a late supper once we're back at the house," he readily agreed.

"Wait... you're telling me this pain in the ass _lives_ with you?!" said Rin horrified.

Emiya made a face, before carefully schooling it.

"One does not argue with Fujimura Taiga when she gets in that mood."

Elric nodded sagely.

"Come back here and fight!" fumed Illya from where she was standing next to Berserker. As it was the "mad" Servant, it was still struggling against the chains. Even if it was rather pointless at this point.

Elric had rendered her Servant helpless in a single move, and had only revealed the name of his Servant. Lancer was staying out of sight.

About halfway back to the house, Rin and Archer departed. Emiya's strange knowledge of the Grail had been deduced when Elric admitted to being a Master. And if he lived in the house, then it was only natural he would tip the scales in his favor by telling his 'host' how to summon Saber properly.

Once they were gone, a figure approached from several blocks away.

"Lord Elric, you shouldn't have wandered off. What would your brother say if he knew you had gone into hostile territory," chided the green-haired figure.

"He would be too busy snogging with you while I try to avoid the sight to care," deadpanned Elric.

"Who is this?" asked Saber tensing.

"Elric's bodyguard Midori. He has a fascination with nature, so he dyes his hair green," explained Shirou (Emiya). Saber accepted the explanation and thought nothing more of his odd appearance.

Reminded of another matter, Saber looked at Elric with something akin to dislike.

"I challenge you to a duel," she said flatly. Something about the blond rubbed her in all the wrong ways, and it wasn't because he looked so much like Gilgamesh that it was uncanny.

"Do you want to use your invisible sword or are bokken acceptable?" asked Elric, not even phased.

"Bokken are fine," said Saber.

Emiya winced. It was Taiga all over again.

* * *

Saber looked Elric in the eyes. There was something highly unnerving about this teen, even if they shared a similar despair about their heights. How often had her Knights teased her about being so short?

Elric had a pair of wooden swords, one in each hand. Nearby his bodyguard Midori watched in silence, with a cup of fresh tea in hand and a pot next to him. Shirou had given up trying to dissuade them (not that he really tried) and instead focused on dinner preparations.

At an unseen signal, the two charged at each other.

At first Saber was incredulous at the openings Elric left in his defenses. All of them were fatal, if hit.

But the second she started trying to take _advantage_ of those weak points...well, that was when she realized the brilliance of his strategy.

If he couldn't beat his opponents through skill, speed or strength, then he had to control the battle itself. And once they enemy fell into his rhythm, they were trapped.

Though she had to wonder what sort of idiot would teach Elric such a suicidal and insane fighting style.

Saber found her annoyance and disdain for Shirou Elric begin to vanish into a sort of grudging respect. He was an ass who had a genuine dislike of authority figures, and did his best to annoy others, but he was a true warrior worthy of respect.

"Saber! Elric! Midori! Dinner's ready!" said Shirou.

The two of them paused mid battle, though Elric had his sword at Saber's throat while hers was poised at the rib cage...with his other sword blocking it. Now that they had slowed down, you could see obvious cracks and chips where they had put a little too much strength into their blows.

"Looks like we'll have to replace these later," said Elric. Though you could tell he was grinning like a madman.

"Indeed. Preferably with something a bit more sturdy," agreed Saber. "You were a more worthy opponent than I had originally estimated. Most Magi completely ignore the physical aspect and only focus on furthering their own mysteries."

"He takes great pride in exercising. Perhaps the two of you could spar using your hand to hand combat rather than swords, at least until you are able to acquire better ones?" said Enkidu pleasantly. He had mentally chalked another tally in the similarities between Gilgamesh and Shirou.

Gilgamesh had trouble getting along with others outside of the field of battle, and even then only _one_ person had been able to connect with him enough that he acknowledged them as worthy.

And that was Enkidu.

Emiya disliked the idea of forcing Saber to stay in hiding, since she couldn't astralize. So Elric came up with the perfect excuse for her presence.

Officially she was sent as Midori's back-up, but since Shirou Emiya was hosting him until the war was over, she had agreed to take over the guarding aspect for their host, as Midori never left Elric's side.

It certainly cut down the complaints from Taiga.

And a chance to spar with someone who understood true battle, rather than the weak mortals of the present age...well, Saber could readily agree to such a suggestion.

Enkidu would act as the referee, as he had no reason to favor either side. Instead he would remind them of small things like lunch.

Saber and Elric spent most of the day sparring, pushing each other to higher and higher, while grinning like madmen. And when they weren't playing with sharp and pointy objects, they were watching TV.

Elric had to admit, he had far too much fun watching the reaction of Saber when he put in Monty Python. Her reaction to the 'Knights who say "Ni"' was hilarious, but more so was watching the man-eating rabbit!

But...there were some shows they could agree to. _Attack on Titan_ , as strange as it was, happened to be one of them. Though that was mostly because Elric had always been a fan of the opening song.

When Shirou Emiya returned, it was with Sakura.

It was then that Saber saw another side of the man (for his eyes were too old to dismiss him as just a teen) known as Shirou Elric.

When he saw Sakura, there was a brief hint of pity, but there was genuine respect from him. Not once did he even remotely attempt to berate her or treat her with anything short of respect deserving to a princess. It was rather baffling how he could sling insults and barbs without hesitation to everyone, just to get a rise out of them, but for Sakura, there was never a single unkind word.

Even "Midori" was unaware of the reason.

It bothered Saber so much that she asked after Sakura and Taiga left for the night.

"Why do you treat Sakura-san with such respect, yet annoy others without hesitation?"

Her Master paused in doing the dishes. He was actually curious why he had never heard Elric tease Sakura like he did Taiga.

"Simple. Sakura Matou has enough problems being used as an incubator for Crest Worms on the orders of her _grandfather_ , never mind what Shinji has been doing to her on that thing's orders, that I'll not taint the one sanctuary she has from her living hell," said Elric.

Gone was the irritating blond who lived to annoy others. This was something Saber recognized immediately.

This was a knight who knew of a horrible situation, but was unable to act.

"What."

Shirou's voice was flat, as he was having trouble processing what Elric had so casually said.

"What is happening with Sakura?"

"Crest worms are the lowest of the low, familiar wise. Especially if you're being used as an incubator for them. For men, it's pretty bad. From what I recall, the last Master of the Matou family was forced to rely on the things and he was hacking up blood all the time, and his left side was completely paralyzed. But for girls...it's ten times worse."

Elric went and got a piece of paper. He had only seen the _things_ once...but it was something that would haunt him forever.

His hand deftly and calmly sketched something. The more it took shape, the more repulsed Saber became as the Grail filled her in on the details of the creature.

Shirou Emiya looked at the thing horrified.

"This is what she must endure while living in that _place_. I'm not going to give her a hard time when her life is already hellish enough thanks to her _grandfather_."

Saber nodded, her curiosity appeased...and sympathy for the girl took firm hold.

"Wait... her grandfather forces her to have these things..."

"She wasn't even five at the time when he threw her into a pit of them," clarified Elric. "And that's before Zouken broke her even further."

"If it's this bad, why haven't you done anything?!" said Emiya, angry.

Elric's look shut him up without a word.

"Because even if I were to take her from that house, it would serve nothing in the end. These crest worms are all that keep Zouken Makiri alive. As long as they exist, he will not die. And the only way to kill them all would entail potentially killing Sakura in the process. Keep in mind, this man has been around since the _first_ Grail War, which until now only happened in sixty-year intervals and lasted a few months at the most. And while there is one way that _might_ save her, the only way to pull it off would require more luck than I have."

"And what way might save her?" asked Shirou far too seriously for his health.

"She would have to break the one taboo in the alchemy I practice that is actually there for a damn good reason. She would have to perform human transmutation and insure that Zouken is caught up in the circle."

Human transmutation was forbidden for a _reason_. If she were luckier than her current situation suggested, Truth might take pity on her and only take away her magecraft or her circuits. If not...well, at least she would take Zouken with her.

"Human transmutation?" repeated Emiya. Saber looked equally baffled.

Elric sighed.

"Someone get the booze. No way am I explaining this sober," said Elric flatly. Enkidu helpfully went to the liquor cabinet and got some of the extra stock that Emiya brought home from work, mostly to keep Taiga happy.

* * *

Gilgamesh was bored, and Kirei was keeping him confined to this boring church. Even his large store of video games were of no use in keeping him entertained.

He had spent ten year immersing himself in every aspect of modern culture, just to kill time. There was no treasure of the modern age that appealed to him enough that he would go and retrieve it. It was all just trash.

And he had been told explicitly to not stalk Lancer's Master.

Apparently the teen had gone around telling those unaware of the truth that Gilgamesh was his older brother sent to insure he didn't get himself killed while visiting Fuyuki for a year or two. While there was some passing resemblance between them, Gilgamesh was more than affronted that this Shirou Elric dared to call the King of Heroes his "older brother". There was some talk of a strange bodyguard that had green hair, but he dismissed it. It wasn't the first time someone had brought an extra person to the war to serve as a spare source of prana.

Strangely, there were only reports of the bodyguard, but Kirei was unable to obtain any concrete pictures of the man.

So he was stuck in a church with _nothing_ to do. This was unacceptable.

If Kirei didn't provide some entertainment worthy of his notice and fast, he would have to go out and find it for himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Shirou Emiya was appalled at the idea of using alchemy on humans. Especially when he found out the true price of it.

It was clear from the way Elric spoke of it, he had seen it happen. More than once. Saber assumed it was because he had done it himself...but the price he paid for it was still unclear.

However it was what he let slip about Gaia, Alaya and this being called Truth that really held Emiya's attention.

Something about the way he spoke about "Truth" felt familiar. Like it was information that he had learned a long time ago, but forgot. The thing was that he knew it wasn't from Kiritsugu's teachings.

It wasn't until Elric offered to teach him alchemy, which unlike magecraft didn't become weaker the more people that used it, that he started to suspect something.

He picked up alchemy circles far too quickly. They looked like a combination of runes and formalcraft.

Shirou felt something in the back of his mind wake up and take notice. Unlike magecraft, which had always felt forced to him, this felt natural. Almost instinctive.

Seeing the first product of alchemy, Shirou Emiya felt something inside him hum. Almost like a cat that had been sleeping in the sun for a long time stretching lazily.

It felt...right. More than using his nerves as circuits ever did.

"It would seem Emiya has an aptitude for real alchemy. In that case Saber can take over the sword training and I'll teach you as much as I can before this war is over. Somehow I get the feeling you're going to need it."

"But isn't formalcraft really time consuming?" said Emiya. At least Kiritsugu had said it was while describing it.

"Alchemy may look like formalcraft on the surface, but in reality it's far simpler. And the runes mostly act as foci. For example there was once a man who manipulated fire simply by snapping his fingers, even to the point where he could cause an explosion with water. He was completely useless when it rained, but other than that he was a devastating opponent."

Edward's memory of the Flame Alchemist immediately came to mind. It was weird, shifting through _three_ sets of memories at once.

"How is that possible?"

"He used a lighter. Hydrogen and oxygen are both combustible, after all," said Elric.

Saber looked fascinated with the concept.

"So what will it be, Emiya? Will you continue trying to learn magecraft or do you want to try your luck as an alchemist?"

Shirou Emiya thought that one over. He had never been very good at magecraft, and had mostly learned it because his father was a magus. But some of the horror stories of Caster in the last war had never really sit well with him. To say the least of the fact that the Association branded anyone who came up with something very unique and turned them into lab rats.

And from what Elric had been able to tell, he had something that was so rare, there was almost no doubt he'd get stuck with a sealing designation.

A reality marble.

With his newly bought tablet, Emiya could research his rare gift in peace. No Magus from an important or long family line would be able to figure out how to use something so modern. Especially not password protected and under a false name.

As far as any Magus would assume, the folder contained porn. It was a joke that Emiya felt was in bad taste, but no sane person would want to look through _that_.

And the folder that said reality marble had something entirely different. He didn't know _where_ Elric found those videos, but he knew anyone springing that trap probably deserved it.

(The videos ranged from anything to a woman giving birth in graphic detail, to some rather questionable videos that were best not discussed in public.)

"Let me think about it."

* * *

 _The next day..._

Emiya was dodging like crazy.

It was official. Magi were all nuts.

Rin had taken the fact he couldn't bring Saber to school with him personally. So much so that she was actively trying to take out her frustrations on him.

Unfortunately for her, Shirou had a bit more than just reinforcement under his belt, and he most certainly hadn't forgotten it was HER Archer that damn near caved his head in before Saber was summoned.

And he had taken to alchemy like a duck to water, even if Elric had spent most of the night teaching him as much as he could.

It was a good thing he was in a school. He merely swiped a few pieces of chalk and started drawing on the bottom of the desk. Two seconds later, before he was bombarded by blasts, he was protected by a half-inch of solid steel.

Thanks in part to the lessons, he was able to revert it back before anyone found out.

But the first thing he did once he got a clear shot of her was give Rin a black eye.

Normally he wouldn't hit a girl, because he knew Taiga would skin him alive. But Elric had spent the past month and a half beating the shit out of him...and that treating someone who had made an honest effort to kill you with anything less than equal force was just stupid.

A fact Saber had surprisingly agreed on. She was a testament to how dangerous a woman could be if she put her mind to it.

Since he hadn't sensed any real lethal intent from Rin, just vast amounts of irritation, he felt the black eye was justified. Had she done more than shoot Gandr curses at him, he would have done a lot worse.

"You... You hit me!" she said in disbelief, holding her eye in pain.

"You attacked me just because I can't exactly bring Saber to school!" countered Shirou. "Consider us even!"

"But I'm a _girl_ ," she said, as if Shirou couldn't tell the difference.

"You're an enemy Master, one that made an attempt to kill me because of something I have no control over," Shirou, more than a bit irritated that she had attacked him when she was already aware that Saber couldn't astralize.

"Then why didn't you just ask that stupid boarder of yours to lend you Lancer for a couple of hours you idiot! It's not like Saber would have argued considering Lancer can disappear and she can't!"

Shirou blinked. That was actually a good point, and he had the sneaking suspicion "Midori" was really Lancer.

Suddenly they both heard a scream. Without thinking, they ran towards it.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Elric wasn't idle. In fact he was doing the same thing Kiritsugu did during the last war.

He was using remote cameras.

Which was why the second he saw what Shirou did in response to Rin trying to hit him with her favorite curse, he started laughing. Like an idiot.

"It's about time!"

"What happened?" asked Saber.

"Mr. Hero just gave little-miss-perfect-student a black eye after she tried to kill him!"

"She WHAT?!"

"Relax. The idiot put our rather hurried lessons to good use and managed to get out of it. Hell, once she gave him a breather and was in his strike range, he punched her hard enough to give her a black eye. I'd love to see how she explains that!"

Elric rewound the video, and Saber had to crack a smile at the way Shirou handle himself. It was nice to know their efforts of trying to cave his skull in weren't totally wasted.

"And Rin did make a good point. Lancer could cover for Shirou since you can't astralize. And it's not like you couldn't cover for Lancer in the meantime."

"...An acceptable strategy, so long as Lancer agrees to it."

"I don't think that will be a problem."

Enkidu liked Emiya to a point, but it was doubtful that he would humor him as much as his real Master did.

Elric took his Servant to parks and the woods around Fuyuki. Mostly because of his weird ability to sense Servants and Masters through nature, but also because he rather enjoyed just exploring without the possibility of combat.

And whenever he found a good spot, he could always read while Enkidu played around.

They made a strangely good combination.

"Are you sure Lancer would be up to the task?" asked Saber.

"I'm sure he can handle long enough for us to get there."

"So your Servant is a he?"

"I think so. It's hard to tell with him. I mean the face and hair look girlish, but the rest of him makes it hard to tell whether Lancer is a boy or a girl. I just call Lancer a boy for convenience sake."

Saber stared at him.

"Surely you jest."

"I wish. Lancer could pass for both and it's not like he really cares either way. So long as he has a garden to play with, or is allowed to visit the woods, he's happy enough."

Not to mention that if Gilgamesh even remotely got word of who was summoned as Lancer, he wouldn't hesitate to make an appearance. It was bad enough Saber had been summoned a second time.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Saber.

"For now we'll temporarily switch Servants. That should cover the holes in our defenses."

"Acceptable, as long as you remain our ally and Lancer agrees to this."

"I agree to it. I don't mind really," said Enkidu suddenly.

"I knew that hair coloring of yours couldn't possibly be dye," said Saber.

"Oh you'd _really_ hate him if you knew which king he served, in a manner of speaking. And at least the man he worked with had a real sense of what loyalty is supposed to be," snarked Elric.

Saber looked at him with fury in her eyes, before he raised a single golden eyebrow.

"Remind me again how _your_ legend ended?" he said pointedly.

Saber winced.

Okay, she might have had that one coming.

"Can I at least get a hint?"

"His legend originates in Mesopotamia," deadpanned Elric. Which was as much a clue as she needed.

* * *

 _The next day..._

Rin, Shirou (Emiya), Archer and the still hiding Lancer were running around the school like chickens with their heads cut off getting rid of seals.

However it was Lancer who happened to whisper something in Emiya's ear.

" _The archery club. We never checked it."_

"Rin, what about the archery club? With all the after school ones canceled, it would be easy to place a seal there without notice."

"You're right. I never even thought of that!" said Rin. "Let's check it just to be sure!"

Once there, Rin's estimation of Elric's servant went up. If he hadn't said anything to Emiya, they would have missed this seal entirely!

"Well done Lancer. I never considered checking the archery club," said Rin. "Are you sure you don't want to materialize?"

Emiya waited, before relaying Lancer's reply.

"A good Servant doesn't show up until he's needed, and until then enjoys going into places that he doesn't have to pay for. Like movies."

Archer blinked.

" _Why didn't I think of that,"_ he grumbled. Since no one could see him, no one would bitch about him wandering off to see a few movies.

"Do it and die," growled Rin.

" _Even if you were in the perfectly capable hands of Saber and Lancer?"_ pleaded Archer. He never got to do anything fun during these stupid wars. Rin just glared at him.

Lancer smiled enigmatically at Archer. Then it hit him.

He had independent action, and Rin had only one command seal left. The worst she would do was fire Gandr's at him or curse him out.

Archer had an evil grin on his face.

He was so abusing the fact he could astralize to have a bit of free fun.

Right as Rin was about to destroy the main seal Rider appeared.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Shinji.

"And I wouldn't trust a snake so quickly, if I were you," said Shirou, relaying what Lancer commented on.

Shinji tensed, but didn't hide it very well. Rider didn't bother trying to hide her surprise.

"What are you talking about Emiya? I don't see your Servant here to protect you!"

"A good Servant knows when to hide, and when to strike when their opponent isn't expecting it," said Shirou a little too calmly.

Shinji sneered at them, but Rin took the hint. Lancer was able to attack without being seen, far more effectively than Archer. If Rider tried anything, odds were he'd do the same thing.

Rin moved closer to the seal, to break it. Rider tensed, ready to skewer her. Shirou remained calm.

The moment Rin touched the seal, Rider was a split second from attacking her. Except she didn't get anywhere close.

Chains attached to Rider, cutting her off. The same chains that had stopped Berserker a few days earlier.

Rider tensed, and tried to break the chains. Except they weren't budging.

" _I wouldn't bother if I were you. Those chains were meant to hold back a god, and the higher your divinity, the stronger they become,"_ commented Lancer from outside.

Archer frowned. Those chains looked familiar, but that sure as hell wasn't Gilgamesh.

"What... how?! Where's your Servant Emiya?!" shouted Shinji, his tune changing rather quick.

"See here's the thing. Saber couldn't come to school with me, so my boarder agreed to loan me Lancer in exchange. For some reason he's rather shy," said Shirou flatly, glaring at Shinji.

"He's not shy, he's smart," said Rin. She looked at Shinji. "I don't know, should I kill you know and save myself the trouble later, or let him go after cutting off his... wait."

Shirou looked at Rin quizzically.

"Look at his hands."

"There's no command seals," said Shirou, realizing what she had caught.

"Alright you little rat, how are you controlling Rider without command seals? Talk fast or Archer puts a few more holes in you!" said Rin.

"Calm down Tohsaka," said Shirou. Shinji relaxed a bit, until Shirou spoke again. "There's no need to call Archer when I could probably hit him just as easily without exposing him to the little weasel."

Rin blinked, before a slow, evil smile crept on her face.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Emiya."

"Well I didn't know Shinji had it in him to rape his own sister, even if it was on his grandfather's orders," said Shirou, glaring at Shinji. Elric had been quite enlightening on Sakura's living conditions.

Needless to say Shirou's saint-like tolerance snapped when he heard that.

"He what."

If Rin was 'calm' before, now she was an ocean of tranquility. Shinji was so screwed.

Then again, Shirou Emiya was unaware Sakura Matou was originally Sakura _Tohsaka_ , Rin's younger sister.


	7. Chapter 7

**Been getting over a bad ear infection. Thank god for antibiotics. Sorry about the late update.**

* * *

"So Emiya...how is it that Lancer was able to keep Rider pinned down until I...dealt...with Shinji?" asked Rin.

"Ask my boarder. He _might_ explain it to you. Or he might insult you. Fifty-fifty. Actually the only person I've ever seen him being immediately nice too was Sakura. And he was the one who told me about Shinji," said Shirou. He did everything in his power not to cast a glance backwards. He wasn't the only one wincing at the amount of damage Rin did to the bastard.

Gelding was the _least_ of Shinji's punishments for daring to rape Sakura, even if it was under Zouken's orders.

Archer frowned. As far as he knew, there wasn't a boarder in the Emiya household. Just Shirou.

"I think I'd rather meet this boarder of yours and find out how much he knows."

What happened next would rate almost apocalyptic when it came to Rin's infamous Tsundere temper.

Truth only knows Shirou Elric would forever remember the incident before laughing his ass off.

* * *

 _In the Emiya household..._

"YOU!"

Elric looked at the enraged Magus, and promptly grinned before waving. He then returned to his beer, which he had filched from the liquor cabinet.

"You've meet him before?" said Emiya.

"I was pretending to be Lancer while busting her Servant as a Counter Guardian. It doesn't help that it was really dark and I was pretending to be a Servant from the last war when we went to the Church, or that she never got a good look at my face last time," said Elric flippantly. Actually that part had been calculated to provide maximum amusement for this moment.

Besides, he planned to blindside most of them just to see their expressions. Lancer even had a camera on him at the moment.

"How did you do all that before? And how do you know Archer?"

"I'll tell you on one condition. Archer is _not_ allowed to astralize the entire time I'm explaining this."

"Fine. How do you know who I am when I've never seen you once?" said Archer EMIYA.

Elric's grin was wide and evil.

"Perhaps this will demonstrate quite clearly how I know who you are," said Elric.

He held his hands like he was grasping a hilt before he said clearly "Trace... on."

To the shock of everyone, Archer most, Elric clearly projected a copy of Excalibur in his hands. It wasn't perfect, and would last more than a hit or two, but it was clearly Excalibur.

"Is that... a projection?!" said Rin in disbelief.

Archer took a good long look at Elric's eyes, before he started swearing.

"Who did you make a deal with?"

"Well it sure as hell wasn't that damn Zelretch, I can tell you that much," deadpanned Elric.

Archer looked pissed.

"Archer?"

"Your plan to cause a paradox wasn't working, and I said no. Next thing I knew, I was before this massive gate with a rather creepy gatekeeper. They offered me a deal, though I lost my original body in exchange. Or perhaps this was the form I was supposed to be in. Either way I'm ending these damn wars once and for all," said Elric flatly.

"And the name?"

"The man who surrendered a fragment of himself was originally named Edward Elric. Besides, having three of us would have been confusing."

"Having you around is confusing enough!" said Archer, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Do I at least get a name for the entity or being that's trying to fuck everything up?"

"It calls itself Truth, or it can be called Gatekeeper. Apparently there was a rather...large...disagreement in concern to a certain gift Truth imparted to humanity called alchemy, and Gaia kept sending Primate Murder in to kill any areas that got good at it enough to contact Truth directly," said Elric far too helpfully.

"Why would Gaia care about alchemy? I mean besides that one incident in Pompeii which resolved itself..." started Rin.

Elric helpfully took out a piece of chalk, and drew what appeared to be a rather intricate runic circle. He then proceeded to put a few rocks and other ingredients inside (he had bought them earlier for when he had to explain this to Rin). That done, he put one hand over the other and 'pushed' downwards.

There was a rather impressive light show, followed by a little smoke. What happened next nearly had Rin jumping him.

"Is that...a diamond?!"

"Check it yourself. This is just one of the applications of real alchemy, not the kind Atlas or the Einzbern use."

Rin had finished her inspection of the rock...now diamond.

"You are going to teach me the applications of this alchemy of yours and in exchange I won't skin you alive for that stunt you pulled at the school."

"You know there were easier ways of asking. Like you could have brought me Shinji alive and relatively un-maimed so I could have the fun of turning him into potion ingredient. Or as a human guineia pig for things best not mentioned. I mean I was planning to show Sakura how to contact Truth so she could rid herself of Zouken and those worms in a single move anyway, and it's not that hard to teach..."

Rin's eyes glared at him for a moment.

"Shinji might be a bit difficult. He's not going to be leaving the hospital any day soon. Or on his own recognizance."

Elric considered this, before giving Emiya a look.

"You had to ruin my fun by telling her what Shinji did to her little sister, didn't you?"

Emiya blinked.

"Sakura's her sister?"

"She was adopted because Shinji had no circuits. At all. Did you burn the book Shinji had on him?" asked Elric.

"After I beat the living shit out of him," said Rin. "Of course it was a bit odd that Rider gave her own piece of mind to the bastard once the book was burned. She did more damage to his lower regions than I did."

"Is he still alive enough to be considered a perfectly viable human test subject for anything and everything your devious mind could come up with, or as a scapegoat for the Wizard Marshal once you get into Clock Tower?" asked Elric.

"I believe so. How do you know I'm going into Clock Tower?"

"Simple. I'm teaching you alchemy, then using Shinji as the demonstration subject for all manner of vicious and horrible things that happen to those not prepared for it. Like Zelretch, who won't be expecting you to turn said teachings onto him for being a monumental asshole," said Elric flatly.

Archer's foul mood suddenly turned very happy indeed.

"I heard the words in monumental pain and Zelretch. I'm in!"

"And we can find out exactly how extensive a dead apostle ancestor's regeneration is once he angers you enough that you start targeting the groin area and master the Kaleidoscope enough that he won't be able to escape," continued Elric.

Archer was definitely in a happy place now.

"I take back every bad thing I've just been thinking of you and replacing it with you're a wonderful person and I will make the popcorn," said Archer eagerly.

Elric had a weird smile on his face.

"I was hoping you'd see it my way," he said, amused.

Both of them had some rather disturbing snickering. It was freaky how in sync they were.

"Who were you planning to use once Shinji's no longer viable? Please tell me it's..."

"Not Goldie. He's out of the running for reasons I'm not going to explain in front of witnesses (or Rin), and I have plans for Kotomine that should get rid of him in a way that he won't come back to haunt us for. I was thinking of pissing off the Einzberns and then using any idiots they send my way as test subjects," said Elric flatly.

Archer laughed in a way that made Rin's skin crawl.

"Good combat practice _and_ it'll piss off Acht! I love it!"

"And it'll make Illya happy," agreed Elric.

"You two mesh far too easily for my sanity," deadpanned Emiya. Rin nodded whole-heartedly.

"Similar mindsets and experiences," deadpanned Elric, while not explaining what he meant by _that_. "So Rin, do you mind sharing lessons with Sakura and Emiya? I mostly just plan to show her how to get rid of a nightmare she's had since she became a Matou and letting her decided whether or not she continues."

"If it means I get into Clock Tower on a free ride _and_ learn how to make my own jewels for a fraction of what they cost, you better believe it!" said Rin.

"Good. Here's your first lesson. You have to memorize the chemical composition of the rocks you use before we start practicing with it. Considering you're practically a prodigy as a Magus, I have high hopes you'll also become a first-rate alchemist by the time I send you to torment Zelretch," said Elric far too cheerfully.

"Wait, I thought the first lesson was about equivalent exchange and how 'all is one, one is all'?" said Emiya.

"That was to drum it into your thick head that there are some people you can't save, some people who shouldn't be saved, and some people who don't _want_ to be saved. And how to tell the difference."

"He actually needed a lesson like that?"

"I've been having Saber beat it into him during their sword practices. And I've been trying to beat into _her_ that either way her kingdom would have fallen, the only question would have been the level of the fall out," said Elric. He made a face. "That's still a work in progress."

"In the meantime... Sakura _should_ be coming over with Taiga any time now."

Especially since Elric's presence discouraged Rin's own, thus sparing Sakura from the issue of her sister telling her to get lost to 'protect' her.

"Alright, here's how we're going to play it. Saber, you're Rin's chaperon since we know that Taiga won't argue about the idea. She knows something about magic, but not the specifics or details."

"Wait...she knows about magic?!" said Rin horrified.

"Well yeah. Raiga knew Kiritsugu and even bought weapons. Not to mention he did investigation after Taiga ran into Rider in the last war. He found out by accident and Kiritsugu only confirmed it before warning him about Magi. She knows, but she doesn't really believe it. She might act like a black hole, but she knows when to keep her mouth shut," said Elric.

"I don't believe this..." muttered Rin.

"To be fair, Caster wasn't exactly _subtle_ in the last war. I think the last priest claimed it was a monster movie that got out of hand as the cover-up, and Truth only knows how he hid the mass abduction and murders of those children."

Rin made a face. She had seen the devastation first hand, and knew it had been _bad_.

Once Rin got settled in to read (the cover story was that Saber was there to insure no funny business occurred around her charge while Rin's house was repaired) while Archer was an associate of Kiritsugu's from abroad, and had decided to take the man up on the offer to stay in one of the many spare bedrooms, and had been unaware of the man's passing until after the fact. And Elric had been around long enough that he didn't need to explain Enkidu or himself in the house.

Fortunately Archer didn't mind going grocery shopping to accommodate the extra mouths.

Taiga came in, spotted the extra girls (as did Sakura, who stiffened when she saw Rin) and almost went into a Tiger-fueled fury.

"Hey Fuji-nee. I see you've noticed the three new temporary boarders," said Emiya nervously.

"How temporary and why are they here?" demanded Taiga.

"My roof suffered a rather unfortunate and unforeseen collapse in one of the rooms. I'm having someone come and inspect the rest of it and repair the damaged parts, and Emiya helpfully offered the use of his guest house until the repairs are done. Saber-san happened to be visiting for a month or so, and agreed to act as the chaperon to insure nothing untoward happens until the roof is fixed. She'll be sharing a room with me," said Rin calmly, her face perfectly innocent despite the fact she was bullshitting a teacher.

The best part was that it wasn't a complete lie...part of her roof _had_ collapsed when she summoned Archer, and she had already made arrangements to insure that the rest of it was still in good shape.

"And whitey?" demanded Taiga.

"I'm an old associate of Kiritsugu Emiya-san. He offered to let me borrow one of the spare rooms next time I was in town for business...I was unaware of his demise until after I had already arrived, and making month-long plans in a hotel on such short notice would have proved too expensive for my limited budget. Shirou-san kindly offered the room after I explained my situation," said Archer smoothly.

That was enough to pacify Taiga, for now.

"Before I forget, my condolences for your brother, Sakura," said Shirou (Emiya) with an innocent expression.

"Condolences?" repeated Taiga. Sakura looked equally confused.

"I saw him get hit by a car earlier and an ambulance transferred him to Fuyuki hospital. It looked like he was hit particularly hard in the lower regions, considering the car was lower to the ground," said Emiya with a straight face. His quick flickering of the eyes to Rin told Sakura everything she needed to know.

Sakura winced. Her 'grandfather' was certainly going to be furious finding that out.

"Ah, Sempai, do you mind if I borrow the room with Saber-san and Tohsaka-sempai for the night? Your house is closer to the hospital," said Sakura.

"I don't mind. It's not like we don't have the room, and I'm sure we can find something to talk about. Besides, I think someone bought booze while grocery shopping earlier," said Emiya.

"Booze!"

"And Emiya has several helpers, which means we might as well make this into a real party for the hell of it," added Elric.

Taiga sufficiently distracted, Sakura went to the kitchen to help her beloved Sempai. Shirou quietly told her what really happened to Shinji, and that he didn't hold it against her for what Shinji did to her on Zouken's orders. You could practically see her sag with relief knowing Shirou knew and didn't think less of her. Especially since he offered her a chance to avoid Zouken's wrath for the night once he found out.


	8. Chapter 8

Sakura's anxiety lasted for all of five minutes after Taiga went home.

It was bad enough she was in the presence of no less than _three_ Servants (there was no way in HELL Midori wasn't anything but a Servant, and she was not a complete idiot) but add into the fact that Rin was here...well, her poor nerves would have been shot. It didn't help that Rider had returned and was currently waiting for her, since the Command Seals had reverted back to her earlier.

The only reason Rider hadn't followed her was because she was still recovering, and Sakura had assured her that Shirou would never allow her to come to harm in his home.

And now she was in the middle of three Masters and their Servants, all of whom had either found out or guessed she was Rider's actual Master, since Shinji couldn't have sustained her as long as he had.

"Before we begin, I would like to offer you a chance to rid yourself of Zouken and those worms once and for all. Whether or not you continue learning with Rin and Shirou is entirely up to you," said Elric. His gold eyes seemed to peer into her very soul.

"What sort of chance?"

"I'm going to teach you enough about alchemy...the real kind...that you can successfully create a transmutation circle and if you're lucky and careful, can remove Zouken in a single move. He _barely_ qualifies as human, but at the very least it would do some serious, possibly irreparable damage to him."

Sakura stilled, before an odd expression came upon her face.

"What's in it for you?"

"Truth hates Magi, at least most of them. So the idea of converting a Magus-born into an alchemist would definitely amuse it. There's also the fact that it really, really hates it when humans try to pervert the natural order, so it might be a bit more lenient if you offer up Zouken in exchange for it removing all the worms. Good alchemists tend to follow a cardinal rule, unless they're really stupid. All is one, One is All."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" said Rin baffled.

Emiya blushed.

"It's supposed to reference the cycle of life. Namely the give and take of predators and prey, and how all are equal once they're dead and in the ground," said Shirou embarrassed. That had been one of the lessons Elric had made damn sure to hammer in to his head.

"Anyway I was thinking I could teach you (he pointed his chopsticks at Sakura) enough that you could activate the fail safe and get in touch with Truth to make a deal. It might dislike Magi, but it would definitely hate Zouken's method of sticking around far more than making a simple deal to remove certain...insects... as opposed to limbs or organs to be rid of him. And you could come out of it with something to support Emiya later, like knowledge of how to heal people without taking classes. I can say from personal experience that the brain gets an overload of information and it's only how much you can safely retain that sticks with you," said Elric.

"Why are you helping me?" asked Sakura. That was the main reason she was having trouble believing this was happening.

"To quote a certain series, I have a 'saving people thing' that was tempered with far too much experience and loss. And you are one person who needs saving more than anyone else, next to Illyasviel."

Sakura blinked. For a moment there, Elric almost sounded like Emiya-sempai. In fact the more she was around him, the more it was like there were two of her favorite Sempai instead of one, except one was rather naive, and the other was world-weary and content to be a complete troll.

Though from the way Rin was looking at Elric, it seemed any competition she _might_ have had in the way of Emiya's love had been diverted to a new target.

If that was the case, then Sakura had absolutely no qualms at all at insuring Rin stayed firmly interest in Shirou _Elric_ as opposed to Shirou _Emiya_.

Good sisters share and all that rot, but thanks to their father Tokiomi, they weren't even considered sisters anymore.

If she ever found out who killed that bastard, she would either shake their hand and thank them, or send Rider after them for ruining any chance at payback for what he did to her when he handed her over to the Matou family.

Because hell hath no fury like a woman with a damn good reason to hold a grudge.

"What do I have to do?"

"First we're going to up your skill level, then we'll figure out a way to insure Zouken ends up in the circle when it activates. Does he know Rider was sent back to you, or does he assume she was lost as well?" asked Elric.

"If we time it right and transfer her to another Master temporarily, we can make it seem like she's lost. The only one who would know the difference would be Illya, and we're not actively trying to kill her," said Archer. "Yet" seemed to be implied when he mentioned that.

"Either way he has to die. I already have a way of dealing with Kotomine if this works. He wants to meet 'God' and get an answer, and there's no reason why I shouldn't introduce them. Either way he won't bother anyone ever again," said Elric.

"Wait, _what_?!" said Rin, whipping her head towards him.

Elric blinked, then realized he forgotten about that minor tidbit.

"How to explain this..." muttered Elric. He hadn't really understood the full thing when he was thrown into the Gate, but he was able to gist.

"We're waiting," said Rin ominously.

"Fine. I only know the bare bones of it, and really didn't care about the tiny details. In the beginning Gaia was created to represent the spirit of Earth. Then humanity started evolving. Once intelligence firmly set in, at least enough that people were able to acknowledge concepts like gods and nature beyond primitive ignorance, Truth came into being. Essentially it holds the genetic memories of everything humanity has or will do. Once humanity became self-sustaining and mastered basic tools, they developed a 'gift' of sorts. That gift was alchemy, the ability to mold the world around them using the original formalcraft and runes."

"Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me this 'Truth' is actually what we know as God," said Rin, looking at him in disbelief.

"It's the closest thing to what we know as God, and it really doesn't _care_ what we think of it. It's all knowing, all powerful, and sees everything we say or do. Every thought, every action, every written word. It's pretty much the equal of Gaia, except for humans."

"I thought that was Alaya?" asked Archer.

"Alaya is the _spirit_ of Humanity, and the one who keeps them in check. I think Gaia created it when Truth did something to piss it off," corrected Elric.

"I'm confused."

"Look, all you have to know is that Truth is the closest thing to 'God' that humanity created with. It watches us, records everything, and if you're stupid enough to break the Taboo using the gift it imparted, then you get a first hand talk with it. Anyway, after Truth imparted alchemy to humanity, there was a general rise in attacks from Primate Murder and the counter guardians. They were mostly targeted towards areas were alchemists were getting a little too good for Alaya and Gaia to accept, even if the only ones that got onto Truth's shit list were those that used alchemy to try and bring back the dead."

"So what did Truth do? I mean I've never even _heard_ of alchemy like the way you used it before now," said Rin. It was clear she was taking this with a grain of salt.

"It took all the best alchemists, or those that had potential to be good alchemists, and took them to a pocket dimension. I only have limited knowledge of what's on the other side, but I know more than most."

"You intend to tell Kotomine how to break the Taboo so that he ends up meeting God directly. And what? God just lets him walk on through?" said Rin incredulous.

"Truth doesn't care about humanity. It doesn't care about pity or mercy. It doesn't hear excuses. All that is, is simply _truth_. Unvarnished, unedited truth. What is made of it is up to whomever enters that domain, and the greeter changes shape to cater to whomever enters it."

For him it had been Saber. For the original soul Edward, it had been a figure that sounded vaguely male.

Who knew what Sakura or Kotomine would find at the other end?

Most of those in the room shivered at the implications. Humanity hid itself behind a veil of lies because they could never handle actual truth. And those that did were often ostracized by others because the world at large preferred lies.

So being confronted by an embodiment of _Truth_ , without anything to shield the mind from it...it was little wonder it could only hold a fraction of what was inside the Gate.

Shirou Elric had retained more than even the original had, simply because by the point he had entered the Gate he had almost zero illusions about himself. He had become disillusioned about being a hero, but he had held no lies about his own abilities. He had learned to carefully calculate his prana and fighting ability in order to survive. He had learned them through sheer stubbornness and an inability to put himself before others. In a way, it had helped that he had known something was going to make a move on him that day.

He hadn't bothered to brace himself for anything, and as a result he was a better fighter than ever, never mind the upgrade his circuits got after the fact.

Truth might dislike magecraft, but that didn't mean it would tweak things just to piss off Gaia.

It had taken him five long months to realize that Truth had placed a Crest on his new body, but unlike others it only light up in the presence of high level alchemy.

From what he knew of Truth, it fully planned to dump him in that other world to clean things up before the Homunculi ruined everything. It was bad enough that there were fake Philosopher's stones running around...having the real thing was infinitely worse, because it made more work.

"So Sakura, how would you feel being rid of Zouken _and_ his familiars once and for all? What would you do with your life?"

"I'd move in with Sempai and help out," said Sakura honestly. Anything that came up after was not really worthy of caring about. As long as she had Shirou Emiya, she could care less whether she became a mass murderer or a saint. He was her rock in a world that had broken her so thoroughly it would take a miracle for her to become even _remotely_ normal.

"Looks like Emiya has a girlfriend no one knew about!" grinned Elric.

Sakura didn't bother to blush, and Emiya just looked confused.

Elric suddenly face-palmed.

"I forgot he was just that oblivious to the opposite gender, let alone enjoying that sort of thing."

Archer nodded in sympathy.

"Want me to tell her or...?" he offered.

"You explain it in painful detail. You're closer than I am," said Elric cryptically.

Which was how Sakura ended up in another room being given a far too detailed explanation on how if she wanted to end up with Shirou, she would have to make the first move. Otherwise his first time would be with Saber at the very least.

That had been all she needed to agree to the idea. Which was why Shirou was going to be in for a rather...interesting...night while Rin kept Saber busy and Archer did the guarding.

* * *

"Come on! Why is this so hard?" said Rin in frustration.

"You're overthinking it. Besides, you're still trying to force prana into it, and I've told you how real alchemy doesn't use that. How about we go back to the other thing I was trying to teach you about..." said Elric diplomatically.

It was ironic, but he was closer to Rin as an alchemist than he had ever gotten as a Magus. In any OTHER situation she would be the one patiently explaining it to him, sighing and shaking her head when he had trouble understanding anything but swords.

It had taken several months for him to finally catch on to why his element and origin had been the same thing, and why magecraft would more or less be out of his grasp save for the one thing he was uniquely good at.

It could be summed up with a simple sentence.

The original's title among alchemists was Full Metal Alchemist.

Named because of his two automail limbs, Edward Elric was a devastating force of nature even before he turned his own automail into a weapon, primarily a simple blade with just a clap of his hands. Never mind the proficiency he had with a spear, among other things.

The use of said blade in conjunction with his fist was so ingrained that it had left Truth rather stumped on how it could slip the fragment onto "Earth" long enough for Gaia to almost miss it.

And so an epiphany hit it. In a manner of speaking.

If Edward Elric was that good using his blade arm, then perhaps the fragment could learn to adapt to other bladed weapons. And so it made the origin of one "Shirou Emiya" something metal based. It had been Kiritsugu's adoption of the boy that settled the fragment on the path of a sword. It had been magecraft trying to adapt to the missing automail weapons that turned his element identical to the origin in an effort to cope, thus ruining Shirou's chances to be anything more than a joke of a magus.

It had been the lack of alchemy (thus the connection to Truth) that caused Shirou to lose a part of himself, thus rendering him incapable of acknowledging his own health and safety as unimportant.

And so Shirou Emiya was thrown straight onto a self-destructing road that only lead to paradox after paradox, along with unending heartbreak.

It had taken the last, desperate will of _one_ version to say "no" to the one thing that lead him becoming a hero for Truth to find him at long last. After countless repetitions of pain and sorrow.

So now here he was, teaching a bossy tsundere how to perform alchemy knowing once she found the trick of it, she would relentlessly study it until she mastered as much as she could.

Bringing back an unknown ability to mold the world to your will was an easy-entry into Clock Tower, or Atlas if she were inclined. The fact he was willingly giving her as much ammunition as she needed in order to make Zelretch's life a living hell on earth once she mastered his own magic and used it against him was a massive bonus.

And so Elric went about teaching Rin everything he knew about the _basics_ from a book he had damn near memorized while he was part of the original, and wished that he could have convinced Truth to loan him the book for even a week. And that was just to translate the damn thing.

A sudden thought occurred to him. It wasn't like it was _actually_ impossible... Truth had recorded that scarred man using alchemy that way...and it would make things so much simpler...not to mention cheaper.

"Let's take a break for an hour while I try to abuse my own alchemy to make things so much easier long term..." said Elric. He just hoped it worked, because abusing it would make things so much more amusing.

* * *

 _Two hours later..._

"What's with all the paper and hard cardboard?" said Saber.

"Why does he have barrels of black and colored ink?" said Shirou (Emiya) equally baffled.

Everyone watched baffled as Shirou Elric created a transmutation circle purely on the fly using his ever familiar chalk. It had never been attempted, but he saw now reason why it _shouldn't_ work provided that all the ingredients were present. And Truth knows he had analyzed enough books to know what they were made of, especially magecraft books.

Once he had all the ingredients, a horrified Emiya watched as Elric made a sort of strange nest of papers before pouring some ink into the center, along with the cardboard and some twine.

"If this fails, you're cleaning it up," said Emiya flatly.

"Duly noted," said Elric distractedly.

That done, he firmly pressed his hands down and concentrated on what he wanted made. He felt the crest on his back flair up as it connected directly to Truth, before a plume of smoke appeared. Fortunately Archer was able to open the door and turned on the overhead fan.

When it cleared, everyone stared at what Elric had created out of ingredients that had been completely harmless on their own.

It was a book. A perfectly inane book that calmly sit there as if it had always been.

Elric cautiously opened it, and when he did he began to laugh and laugh.

"I can't believe that actually _worked_."

"What worked?" said Rin, furious that he hadn't explained what he was attempting to do.

Elric looked rather smug with himself, before showing her what the book was. And suddenly Rin's annoyance turned into a sugar-sweet smile that made Archer shiver in fear.

What Elric had made for Rin (and found that Truth was willing to bend the rules a _little_ ) was one of the most basic of basic books on how alchemy worked. The very book that set Edward Elric and his younger brother on the path that had made them into the men they would become.

 _An Introduction to Alchemy_. A book so basic that practically every alchemist had read it at the start of their careers at some point.

On the plus side, Rin finally figured out what she was doing wrong with her attempts at alchemy. On the down side, Elric found he had a new hobby that was almost certainly going to piss off a lot of important families (namely the Einzberns).

You see after so many repeats and having to relearn how to make his Reality Marble come out, he had developed a near perfect memory of all the things he had read. And with his mind pretty much on the same wavelength as Archer, a lot of it was bleeding through to the point he could use Archer as a focus, or show him how to do it.

In short, he was recreating a lot of handwritten books from scratch...and if Clock Tower ever got their hands on that information they would hunt him down without hesitation.


	9. Chapter 9

With Elric being able to recreate most of the alchemy books he the "original" had read (though he had quickly figured out that it was only with Truth's permission), Rin quickly advanced as an "alchemist". So much so that she was making some rather strong strides towards manipulating jewels directly, as opposed to just charging them with prana and hoping for the best.

It had gotten to the point where she could recreate a minor ruby or sapphire nine times out of ten, which didn't cause nearly as much damage as buying the jewels outright, even from second-hand shops had.

She was confident she could learn how to make diamonds before the war was over.

It was ironic, but learning alchemy had made it much easier to make some major progress in her own magecraft research.

* * *

 _Nine days later..._

"LISTEN TO ME DAMMIT! Get your nose out of that blasted book!" roared an enraged Rin.

"What happened this time?" said Elric, giving her his full undivided attention. When faced with his golden eyes, she blushed momentarily before giving him a detailed report of what happened.

"So Illya's gotten tired of the lack of action and whoever has Assassin has been targeting those that attend the Church at night?" said Elric, baffled. That hadn't happened the first time, but then again he had already screwed up the timeline.

"Witnesses have reported someone speaking Arabic, or something from the Middle East," said Emiya.

"Makes you wonder how Kirei's been handling this nonsense," said Elric, looking at Archer. He snorted.

"He's been nursing a broken arm for the past week. I checked, and apparently it really _is_ broken. Assassin made a point to target him first and he was lucky to get away with only that," said Rin.

"Doesn't he have accelerated healing or some other bullshit like that?"

Rin gritted her teeth.

"It was broken in FIVE places. They had to put pins in his arm so it would heal right! It's going to take at _least_ two weeks for his arm to heal enough to use it in a fight!"

"Oh dear...it's seems I've triggered the legendary Tsundere Rage Attack," said Elric, grinning mischievously at her.

"QUIT CALLING ME A TSUNDERE!"

Sakura hid a smile, because her sister was a tsundere...and it was clear she liked Shirou Elric. Besides, Emiya-sempai didn't want to date a girl that had made an honest effort to kill him for no good reason. Especially with her personality.

It was best for all involved that they steer her towards Shirou Elric, rather than Shirou Emiya.

Honestly the twin-tailed magus might actually settle down if she got laid.

Sakura decided to redouble her efforts in locking Rin and Elric in a closet for an undetermined amount of time and making it impossible for them to get out until they had resolved Rin's anger issues.

Because while she tolerated Rin's presence at the table, she sure as hell wasn't going to accept her as a romantic rival when she had been trying to get into Emiya-sempai's pants for well over a year.

"So...we either deal with Assassin ourselves, or we lay a trap for them involving a third party that will most certainly show up and deal with it for us," said Elric.

"How are you planning to trap Assassin? Or hell, Berserker?" demanded Rin.

"With Lancer. If I use him without having him hide his face and presence, then a certain someone _will_ show up, or appear before us."

Everyone took it to mean that an outside party associated with the war had a massive grudge against Lancer for some reason they had yet to fathom (he was like Shirou...too nice to hate that much).

Lancer and Elric knew the truth. If he let Lancer show his face _once_ , or let his true voice be heard, Gilgamesh would show up without fail and start making a nuisance of himself. Hence why he had told Lancer not to let his face or presence be detected when he fought, at least not at the moment. So far he had been successful with Elric's polite request not to be detected by his old friend.

Then again, he had only gone alone with it for one simple reason. Elric wanted to surprise Gilgamesh in a way that would amuse them both. And Enkidu didn't mind surprising him...so long as he wasn't obligated to kill his friend.

Seeing the way Rin acted around Elric, Sakura mentally decided that perhaps it was time to call in reinforcements.

In short, she was enlisting the aid of Saber, Rider and Archer... and possibly Lancer if he was willing.

* * *

Explain to me how we ended up trapped in what appears to be a coat closet that barely has room for two people," said Rin furious.

"Sakura. With copious aid from both our Servants, Rider and Saber," said Elric, shifting and trying not to brush up against anything that would get him killed. Or worse, gelded by the irate Magus.

"I know that! I meant why did she do this!"

"From what I heard from your snickering Archer, she wants you to 'get laid' by someone other than Emiya so that she doesn't have to worry about having her sister try and steal her boyfriend."

"Really? I don't even _like_ Emiya. The only hesitation I had when I tried to kill him was _because_ she liked him and he made her happy! Hell, you have a higher chance of actually being my boyfriend than than idiot!"

Elric gave her a pointed look.

"Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me."

"She's doing her job annoying her older sister by pointing you in the general direction of someone who could get you to 'loosen up' without having to worry about you targeting the boy she happens to like. The fact she managed to rope the other Servants into this was probably bonus, as does the fact that if she succeeds she probably consider this payment for the circle I gave her to rid herself of Zouken and the worms," said Elric flatly.

"And what's in it for me?"

"Once you master the Kaleidoscope enough to travel into Amestris, I'll introduce you to a woman who terrifies her superior and pet into behaving using copious amounts of violence and gunfire."

"Tempting," said Rin.

"I know the basics of guns, and I would be more than happy to teach you how to use one to shoot that fake priest in the ass for all the migraines he gave you over the years."

Kirei deserved it. He was a bastard like that.

Rin decided that she might as well humor her sister and snogged Elric senseless for the idea. Only time would tell if he was worthy of being labeled her boyfriend/stress release.

And that would only happen if Sakura was really freed from those damn worms and the monster that controlled them.

* * *

 _In the deeper parts of the Matou mansion..._

After the 'discovery' of Shinji and being informed he would never contribute to the gene pool ever thanks to the extent of the injuries to his balls, Zouken had been in a foul mood. He was also unaware of what Sakura had been learning while in Emiya's mansion.

He completely missed the circle in the middle of the room due to the fact Sakura had the foresight to use a darker chalk, which wouldn't be seen as easily on the already gloomy floor. She had drawn the circle so often at Emiya's that she was able to recreate it purely from memory. She had even mixed some of the circle with her own blood, to make sure it worked.

She didn't care about magecraft, or continuing the family line. Magic had done nothing but made her life a living hell.

Zouken was there. He sneered at her, as the worms began to collect around her.

"Rider, NOW!"

Medusa pushed Zouken into the worm pit, and he landed inside the circle.

"You stupid girl. Did you really think I would be killed by my own familiars?" sneered Zouken.

"Of course not, _grandfather._ I just had to make sure you were in position," said Sakura with a terrifyingly empty smile. She 'collapsed' onto both knees, making sure her bloodied palms touched the circle.

Zouken realized his error far too late. There was a massive surge of energy from the Matou mansion, as his very soul was ripped apart and fed into some _thing_ which had no mercy or pity. It was merely using him as the 'fee' for Sakura to touch upon that realm.

It took Sakura a few moments to orient herself, and when she did she barely kept back a gasp.

'Sitting' on the empty expanse was a copy of herself.

 **What is it that you sought to accomplish? That foul creature is _barely_ worth the price of entry into the Gate.**

"I want to be free. Magecraft has made my life hell, and if it means paying in blood, I'll do it."

Truth said nothing for a moment, but then something happened. Sakura could feel something being ripped from her very being, and then being replaced.

Her circuits were completely destroyed, but her contract with Rider was still present. All the worms inside her body were ripped apart and replaced with healthy organs.

 **The price has been paid. Go through the gate, young alchemist, and receive your reward. But be warned...to return to the Gate will require a higher sacrifice than just your circuits or your shame.**

And with that, the massive Gate opened wide like the maw of hell, and Sakura found herself flung into it. An awful lot of information about healing was promptly shoved into her head, as well as ways to bypass the whole "no using human transmutation" issue while still using alchemy to heal others.

When she came out, she had a massive migraine and a cryptic word from Truth about using her newly gained knowledge to "keep the sword-wielding idiot from dying before he got the missing parts back".

She took that to meant that Truth wanted her to keep Emiya-sempai alive until it fixed whatever was wrong with him. So long as it meant keeping her Sempai happy and alive, she was fine with being an alchemist as opposed to a magus, even if she had suddenly gained a few added quirks to make up for the lack of circuits Dark Sakura needed to survive.

Rider was waiting in the now defunct worm pit.

"Rider," said Sakura, her voice stronger than before.

"Yes, Master?"

"We're looting this place and then burning everything to the ground. Not a single beam left behind," said Sakura, her voice dead.

Zouken was destroyed, Shinji wouldn't come near her anytime soon. It was time to put her personal hell behind and move forward. She still had two good legs...there was no reason for what was past to stop her anymore.

 _Move on. Stand up and walk. After all, you have two perfect legs to stand on..._

Those words kept reverberating in her mind.

* * *

 _A short time later..._

"Wow Sakura, you're lucky you weren't caught up in that gas explosion!" said Taiga.

Sakura had spent the past hour and a half lying to the cops claiming she had noticed a hissing sound an hour before she went to getting groceries but thought nothing of it. By all accounts (and the fact that the fire department found one of the gas lamps with a busted pipe) meant that the official record was that the Matou mansion suffered an unfortunate accident due to outdated gas lines.

The fact that there had been a bad wire close to said busted pipe meant that the entire thing was chalked up to poor maintenance. With that, Sakura was able to collect on the insurance that came standard for old houses.

She had no intention of rebuilding that place, and had already placed most of the things she stole into the Tohsaka mansion with Rin's permission.

In reality she broke the pipe with Rider's help, and then had Rider cut through the wire so that it would ignite on it's own with no help from them.

Zouken was listed as an 'unfortunate' casualty due to age and the fact that he rarely left the house to begin with.

"Yeah, lucky," said Sakura blandly.

Taiga blinked, before she gave the girl an odd look.

"You didn't destroy your house in an attempt to collect on the insurance, did you?"

"Of course not. I did it to cover up the evidence of how I killed grandfather. He's had it coming for a long time," said Sakura insulted.

Taiga blinked. Then she remembered what Elric had mentioned about Sakura's home life, and when she added up the little details found it explained far too much.

Taiga was the heiress to a Yakuza clan, but mostly focused on her teaching career. So the fact Sakura had used a gas explosion to cover up the fact she had murdered the man who had made her home life a living hell didn't bother her so much as make her blink a bit.

"You're not going to do it again, are you?"

"Oh no, I plan to live with sempai until graduation, seeing as how I'm now the sole inheritor of the family fortune and have no intention of going back. Besides, I gave all the books and research from the family to Rin. She can put them to more use than I can," said Sakura.

If anyone asked, Sakura gave the Matou books to her sister as payment for being brought back into the family. Not that anyone would bother asking, since Sakura had no intention of continuing the path of a magus.

So now she was free to pursue her love interest without a certain creature that had the vaguest notion of a soul interfering. And if Shinji tried to make a fuss...well, she was sure Rider would be more than happy to turn him into a particularly ugly statue.

"As a teacher I shouldn't condone the idea of a girl your age staying with a boy."

"But?" continued Elric.

"But I've been waiting for you to jump Shirou for so long that it's probably pointless to care. And I know that Shirou is too responsible to leave you hanging should you get pregnant. Just wait until _after_ you graduate before you start a family, okay?" said Taiga.

"I think we can manage that, Fujimura-sensei," said Sakura cryptically. Emiya gulped.

Well, at least he had some forewarning about what he was about to get in to. Elric, the bastard, just started laughing his ass off while Archer watched the entire thing smugly.


	10. Chapter 10

Illyasviel took the news about the Matou with a grain of salt. There was no way that the heir (and dubious Head) of the family had been able to kill off a leech like Zouken so easily, even if she _could_ get the jump on him.

However... there had been a wave of some form of energy she didn't recognize coming from the general direction of the mansion right before it was destroyed.

Perhaps this...Sakura...had found a methods unknown to most that could kill Zouken.

If so, then she planned to extract it from the girl before she brutally murdered her for getting so close to her brother.

But first she had to get rid of the biggest obstacle to her brother. His boarder, the mysterious Shirou Elric and his Servant Lancer.

It was time for her to go hunting. Assassin was of little importance at the moment...she seemed to primarily focus on the Christians in the town and not on the other servants.

Shirou Elric, however, was a wild card.

He loaned his Servant without care, and didn't seem to really notice that they were even in a war for the Grail.

And when he did go out, it was to deal with the lesser evils of thugs and other people the world wouldn't miss. She didn't know how a Yakuza lackey like him ended up a master, but he was easily the most dangerous one.

He had been able to briefly fool that Tohsaka girl into believing he was Lancer. And he had some unknown magic that allowed instant alteration of his surroundings, only to revert them with a single clap!

It was baffling. And unless she knew what that power was, she couldn't underestimate him.

* * *

A single figure leaned against the doorway of the Church. His red coat was open enough to show off black clothes, and the moon was bright enough to illuminate golden hair and pale skin. He seemed perfectly at ease in his surroundings.

Kirei made no motion of surprise. Rin had told him of the Master who had killed Caster before the last Servant was summoned. And while unusual, it wasn't exactly _against_ the actual rules to do so. Most Masters, however, would have tried to contract with Caster to have two Servants instead of one.

Even if killing Caster _after_ she had brutally murdered her own Master had been a stroke of brilliance he could applaud...after cleaning up the mess.

"Shirou Elric, Master of Lancer. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? Surely not for help in prayer..." said Kirei smoothly.

"I'm an atheist. No, I'm here for another reason. See I know the one person you've always wanted to meet, even if it's just to answer the one question you've always had."

"And what question is that?" asked Kirei, playing along. He didn't know if it was the pain killers or his imagination, but Elric's eyes glinted.

"Why you feel a void in your soul that makes it impossible for you to comprehend emotions. You entered in the Fourth war not to help Tokiomi, but to find the answer to the question. You just assumed that it required despair for you to feel _anything."_

Kirei blinked. No one knew that outside of causing despair, he felt nothing. No sense of accomplishment, no remorse over his wife's suicide, not even a hint of pride at what he had done.

Nothing.

He had hoped Kiritsugu would be able to give him answers, but that had been a spectacular failure all around.

And yet this _child_ waltzed into HIS domain and offered him the answer.

Either he was high off the pills, or he was hallucinating this purely because it was absurd.

"And what makes you think I'll listen to you?" he asked, going along for the sake of curiousity.

"I can remove Gilgamesh from the equation with a single move, and there would be nothing you could do to regain his interest without being turned into a pin cushion filled with many sharp pointy implements of death," deadpanned Elric with a flat tone. "And that's before I tell the others that you have a Servant hiding in the Church to begin with, which automatically takes you out of the equation as a 'neutral party'."

"And how do I know your method of answering my question will work?" asked Kirei, humoring him.

"Because the Matou girl used it to get rid of Zouken, and all of his 'familiars'. On an unrelated note, the evil voice in her head has finally learned to shut up and only comes out when she's feeling particularly homicidal to her sister for looking at her boyfriend for more than fifteen seconds."

Kirei opened his mouth, then shut it.

He honestly had no idea how to respond to that remark.

"So Kotomine... how would you like to make a deal that would get you the answer you've been seeking for your entire life?"

Kirei's smile was only _slightly_ terrifying for those who knew him. It wasn't like he would actually USE what the boy had offered.

Though he did have to wonder how Elric planned to remove Gilgamesh in a way that it would be impossible to get him back...

* * *

Shirou Elric would later blame it on the "law of unintended consequences".

He had delivered the circle which would send Kirei straight to Truth to get his answers once and for all...and the man had promptly sent Gilgamesh after Illya so he could have a proper sacrifice, though _why_ he thought using the lesser grail before most of the Servants had been killed was unknown.

Which had lead to this scene in the Einzbern castle just outside town with an impressive forest...

* * *

 _With Gilgamesh and Illya..._

Gilgamesh didn't know why Kirei needed the Einzbern brat considering only a few Servants had been offed (thus the Grail wouldn't even make a token appearance at best) but considering it was the first time the mongrel had let him out of the church since he had busted the king for stalking that odd blond boy, he had taken the request.

The strangest thing though...when he had bound that mad dog Beserker with his chains, the girl had _recognized_ them almost immediately!

He KNEW that only two people could use these particular chains, and he would have noticed if a second version of himself had been summoned.

He also knew that the odd blond who had caught his attention _wasn't_ the child version either...he only had a passing resemblance to his younger self.

It was as he was about to rip out the heart of Berserker's young Master that he noticed another Master had entered the fray.

"Lancer, stop him!" shouted someone from the door.

What happened next had Gilgamesh stop everything to turn and look at who dared to interfere.

Familiar chains bound themselves around him, causing his arms to snap to his sides. The girl dropped to the ground unceremoniously, but just the mere sight of the chains caused him to turned and look behind him.

He had honestly expected to see another version of himself behind him.

Instead he found a heavily breathing blond with golden eyes...and the last person he expected.

"Enkidu," he whispered in shock.

"Geez. I didn't think he would be stupid enough to try and use Illya when most of the Servants are still in play," said the blond tiredly.

Gilgamesh was more focused on his friend.

"You were right. We _did_ get the drop on him," said Enkidu cheerfully as he waved to Gilgamesh.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"Shirou asked me to keep quiet and not spoil the surprise. He also agreed not to ask me to kill you out of hand for being, and I'm quoting him on this, 'a monumental pain in the ass'. Though I have to ask...stalking, really?"

"I was not stalking anyone!" protested Gilgamesh.

Elric coughed deliberately. Gilgamesh gave him an annoyed Look.

"That wasn't stalking."

"You were following me and not even bothering to be discreet about it. Where I come from, that qualifies as 'stalking'," deadpanned Elric. "And I had to do a bit of fast talking to claim you were my older brother that was sent by the family to insure I wasn't up to trouble just to keep you from getting arrested. Come to think of it, that was probably the only reason Kirei caught on to what you were doing..."

Gilgamesh and Illya stared. Enkidu thought it was all in good fun and kept smiling as if he were privy to a joke only he had heard.

"I'm going to need something to get drunk, and then you're going to explain in detail what the _hell_ is going on," said Illya flatly, in an irate tone.

"I do believe your adopted brother can help with that. It doesn't hurt that thanks to the fact Sakura's a lot more mellow when drunk, he's been bringing back some of the better stock from work at night," said Elric helpfully.

* * *

"Just for the record, I'm blaming you and everything you stand for," said Rin.

"Duly noted."

"Is anyone else noticing a weird resemblance?" asked Emiya.

"I can see why Elric used the line that they're brothers to keep the cops off his ass," said Rin, looking between Gilgamesh and Elric.

Gilgamesh had made it abundantly clear... so long as Lancer was staying at the Emiya manor, he wasn't leaving. _Especially_ since Elric had no intention of forcing them to fight.

Rin, having recognized her father's Servant from the brief glance she had gotten of him, knew that trying to make him leave was pointless.

The Tsundere suddenly paused, and looked closer at Elric and Gilgamesh.

"You're not _really_ brothers, are you?"

Before either could say anything, Enkidu beat them to it.

"It's _possible_ , but extremely unlikely. I mean I've seen several little things that point to them being related, but I have no way to conclusively prove it," said Enkidu.

Both blonds turned to look at him oddly.

"What do you mean you think we're related?" asked Elric, baffled. He was _nothing_ like Gilgamesh.

"THAT DOES IT! Both of you are getting a DNA test just to see whether or not you _are_ actually related, because in the past five minutes you've done nothing to disprove it!" said Rin, more than a little drunk at this point.

"What exactly is a 'DNA' test?" said Gilgamesh with narrowed eyes.

"They'll take a sample of your blood and his, then compare it to see if enough matches that you would be considered related even remotely," explained Emiya helpfully. "It should only take a few days at most."

"And why should I hand over even a drop of _my_ blood to mongrels who wouldn't understand the value of it?"

He suddenly had a finger pointed in his face loaded with a Gandr. It was taking most of his attention span not to go cross-eyed looking at it.

"Because Rin gets curse happy when she's drunk, and she's had at _least_ two full bottles of some really high proof sake in the past two hours while I've been explaining things," said Elric far too cheerfully.

"There are ways for you to relax my sister," said Sakura pointedly.

"Yeah, but then I have to hear her bitch about being 'taken advantage of' and me not properly wooing her...or being able to enjoy it while she's sober," said Elric without missing a beat. Archer snorted.

It took a little convincing from Enkidu for Gilgamesh to hand over enough blood to be tested. They were mostly just trying to humor Rin, who had threatened to skewer everyone with her magically-grown gems if they didn't comply. They didn't expect anything to come of it, because really, Gilgamesh was a _Servant_ and the real one had been dead for thousands of years.

It wasn't like it would come back positive...right?

* * *

 _In Kotomine Church..._

"Why is he late? It's not like a demi-god like Hercules or some homunculus are going to be of any real challenge... At least he's not drinking all my wine...again."

Let it be known that Kotomine on painkillers and other drugs makes him loopy and slightly chatty. Or perhaps the best term for it was "obsessively whiny".

Either way, he really shouldn't be mixing painkillers, antibiotics and alcohol. Especially in the proportions he had them in.

It was going to take _hours_ before he realized Gilgamesh wasn't coming back, and days before he connected it with Elric's comment about removing his 'extra' Servant from the war and not returning him.

Whether or not he figured out how was up for debate.


End file.
